Recruitment & Skills Report 2025

This is our fourth annual survey and the first time we are including results from across the UK.

With four years of data, we are now better able to understand year-on-year trends and changes. Our goal, as always, is to better understand the skills gap and the impact that the lack of resources is having on officers and their teams across each country.

The survey is open to all officers to share their experiences and career plans with us, and those with recruitment or workforce planning responsibilities are asked a few more specific questions. Of the 238 respondents who completed the survey, 108 reported being involved in recruitment at their organisation, and 155 reported being involved in workforce planning; these groups were not mutually exclusive.

The following insights are key trends we have highlighted from the report, specifically concentrated in recruitment, skills and retention.

Perhaps the most worrying trend is that planned recruitment per team has fallen year on year and, most recently, more than halved from 3.70 in 2024 to 1.66 in 2025.

When asked about which specific skills their team needs but doesn’t currently have enough of, it becomes clear that a wide range of skills are in demand. Teams are critically short on high-demand skills like Digital and data (71%), Environmental Sustainability (67%), and Landscape Architecture (65%).

Interestingly, the skills identified as most needed by planning teams are also some of those for which the least number of new roles are planned. This trend suggests that recruitment plans are likely to reinforce the current strengths and weaknesses of local authority teams rather than filling shortages.

These findings follow the same trend we have seen since 2022, demonstrating that the skills gap still does not align with the current vacancies, suggesting that current recruitment processes could benefit from a wider skills approach.

Public sector planning jobs continue to be less appealing. With free text responses consistently describing the role as "underpaid, overworked and undervalued."

On a more positive note, job satisfaction is increasing year-on-year. There has been a general improvement in work-life balance, job satisfaction, and diversity since 2022, after a notable dip in 2023 across most measures. The job satisfaction score this year was 6.55/10, the highest we've recorded, though still lower than broader workforce norms.