United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has 69.6 million people. Its labour market figures come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which uses slightly different age groups from Eurostat – so they cannot be compared directly with the EU averages we give for other countries.

Unemployment has been rising: from 3.8% in 2022 to 4.9% in 2025 (people aged 16 and over), and it was still 4.9% in May–July 2026. Young people are hit hardest – unemployment among 16–24-year-olds went up from 10.7% in 2022 to 15.0% in 2025. The employment rate is stable: 75.1% of people aged 16–64 had a job in 2025 and in May–July 2026. There were 702,000 vacancies in June–August 2026, broadly flat since the start of the year.

The biggest change for EU citizens: since the UK left the EU, you need a visa to work unless you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Irish citizens can still live and work in the UK without any permission. The working language is English.

Two official immigration lists show where the government sees staff shortages:

• the Immigration Salary List (updated November 2025) – e.g. care managers, senior care workers and nursing auxiliaries, bricklayers, roofers, carpenters and joiners, welders, laboratory and pharmaceutical technicians, biological scientists, graphic and multimedia designers, musicians and dancers,
• the Temporary Shortage List (published July 2025) – medium-skilled jobs such as laboratory and IT operations technicians, database administrators, electricians, plumbers, welders, vehicle mechanics, construction supervisors, data analysts and logistics managers.

Both lists matter mostly if you need a Skilled Worker visa: jobs on them can qualify with a lower salary or a lower skill level. Overall, demand for staff is cooling – vacancies stood at 702,000 in June–August 2026 and the number of payroll employees fell by 101,000 in the year to July 2026, so plan your search carefully and apply widely.

The public employment service is Jobcentre Plus, part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), in England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, Jobs and Benefits offices do this job. Start here:

• Find a job – the DWP job portal: search without an account and filter for fully remote, hybrid or on-site jobs; you need an account to apply,
• Civil Service Jobs – vacancies in UK government departments and agencies,
• nidirect – how to find a job in Northern Ireland.

Before you start, every employer must check your right to work in the UK – usually with a share code you get online, or with your immigration documents (Irish citizens show their passport). Be careful with job offers sent via WhatsApp: Find a job warns about recruitment scams targeting jobseekers.

For step-by-step advice on job search, CVs and interviews in Europe, see our How to find a job abroad – 10 practical guides.

The National Careers Service gives this advice for a UK CV:

• include your name, phone number, email address and, if you have one, a link to a professional profile such as LinkedIn,
• do not include your age, date of birth, marital status or nationality,
• do not put other people’s contact details on your CV – write “references available on request”.

The interview: read the job description carefully, research the company and prepare examples from your experience. For competency questions, use the STAR method (situation, task, action, result). For online interviews, test your computer and connection beforehand and be ready 5–10 minutes early. More interview tips.

Diplomas: UK ENIC, managed by Ecctis for the UK government, compares international qualifications with the UK system (Statement of Comparability). To check whether your profession is regulated and who the regulator is, use the Regulated Professions Register.

• Minimum wage (from April 2026): £12.71 an hour from age 21 (National Living Wage), £10.85 at 18–20, £8.00 under 18 and for apprentices. Rates change on 1 April every year.
• Working time: no more than 48 hours a week on average, normally averaged over 17 weeks – but you can sign an agreement with your employer to opt out. Under-18s: at most 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week.
• Breaks: a 20-minute break if you work more than 6 hours a day, 11 hours’ rest between working days and 24 hours off each week (or 48 hours every two weeks).
• Overtime: there is no legal right to extra pay – check your contract. But your average pay for all the hours you work must not fall below the minimum wage.
• Holidays: almost all workers get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year – 28 days if you work 5 days a week. Your employer may count bank holidays as part of it.
• Contract: on your first day you must get a written statement of the main terms (pay, hours, holidays, place of work, probation); a wider statement (pensions, collective agreements, disciplinary rules) follows within 2 months.

Unless you have settled or pre-settled status (or are Irish), as an EU student you come to the UK on a Student visa like everyone else (application fee £558). The work rules for Student visa holders:

• Degree-level students may work up to 20 hours a week during term time and full time outside term time; below degree level the limit is 10 hours a week.
• You may not be self-employed, work as a professional sportsperson or entertainer, or fill a permanent full-time job.
• Work placements that are an integral part of your course are allowed.

Internships: if you do real work as an intern, you count as a “worker” and must get at least the minimum wage. Exceptions: internships of less than a year that are a required part of a UK further or higher education course, pure work shadowing and voluntary work for charities. As a visitor you cannot do any paid or unpaid work, work placement or internship.

Thinking of studying there first? See Studying in the United Kingdom – practical information.

1. Right to work: before you start, your employer checks it – you give them a share code you get online, or your immigration documents; Irish citizens show their passport.
2. National Insurance number: you need it for tax and National Insurance. If you have an eVisa or a biometric residence permit, it may already be in your UKVI account; otherwise apply online – it can take up to 4 weeks. You can start work before it arrives if you can prove your right to work.
3. Health care: register with a GP (family doctor). In England this is free, and you do not need ID, proof of address or proof of immigration status. If you come on a visa, you usually pay the immigration health surcharge when you apply – for a Graduate visa usually £1,035 for each year.
4. Tax: in the 2026–27 tax year the first £12,570 of income is tax-free (Personal Allowance); then 20% up to £50,270, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above (England, Wales and Northern Ireland – Scotland has its own bands).

Problems with pay or working conditions? Acas gives free, impartial advice in England, Scotland and Wales.

Unless you are British or Irish, or have status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you need a visa to work in the UK – this now applies to EU citizens too. As an EU visitor you need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) and can stay up to 6 months, but you cannot work. The main routes:

• EU Settlement Scheme – only for people who lived in the UK by 31 December 2020 (and their family members). The deadline was 30 June 2021; late applications are accepted only with reasonable grounds.
• Graduate visa – after a UK bachelor’s or postgraduate degree, while you still hold a Student visa: 2 years if you apply by 31 December 2026, 18 months if you apply from 1 January 2027 (3 years after a PhD). Fee £937 plus the health surcharge.
• Skilled Worker visa – a job offer from an approved employer in an eligible occupation, usually paying at least £41,700 a year or the “going rate” for the job, whichever is higher (in some cases £33,400). You must speak English; the visa lasts up to 5 years before you extend it.
• Youth Mobility Scheme – up to 2 years for young people from listed countries (e.g. Australia, Canada, Japan, Iceland, Andorra); no EU country is on the list at the moment.

All work visas are listed on GOV.UK – work visas.

• Eurostat – population on 1 January (2026),
• Office for National Statistics – labour market overview, September 2026, unemployment rate 16+, unemployment rate 16–24, employment rate 16–64,
• GOV.UK, pay and working conditions – minimum wage rates, working hours, rest breaks, overtime, holiday entitlement, written statement, interns,
• GOV.UK, first weeks – prove your right to work, National Insurance number, income tax rates,
• GOV.UK, visas – EU Settlement Scheme, Graduate visa, Skilled Worker visa, Youth Mobility Scheme, Appendix Student (work conditions), Student visa, visiting the UK as an EU citizen, Common Travel Area,
• Home Office – Immigration Salary List, Temporary Shortage List,
• DWP – Find a job, Jobcentre Plus; nidirect – working in Northern Ireland,
• National Careers Service – CV sections, interview advice,
• NHS – how to register with a GP surgery,
• UK ENIC – recognition of international qualifications; Regulated Professions Register,
• Acas – advice on workplace rights.

Updated: October 2026.