What is the career landscape like right now?

CREATED BY DAVE CORDLE Published: 29/01/2026 @ 09:01AM #WhatIsTheCareerLandscapeLikeRightNow #UKCareers #JobSearch #TransferableSkills #Networking #Careers2026

So, what is the career landscape like right now? It's faster, more flexible, and more skills-driven than it used to be. You'll do best by translating your strengths, building relationships before you need them, and choosing work that fits your values as well as your abilities ...

What is the career landscape like right now?, Ever-changing paths, Opportunities arise

You might be asking, why does it feel so different from even a couple of years ago? The short version is that work has become more fluid: roles shift quickly, employers adjust plans often, and you're expected to steer your own direction with more intention than previous generations. If that sounds daunting, it can also be freeing, because you have more options than you think once you understand what's actually changing.

Organisations are trying to do more with leaner teams, which changes how jobs are designed!

That doesn't always mean fewer opportunities; it often means broader roles, faster decision-making, and a preference for people who can learn quickly and communicate clearly. When you're weighing up your next move, your question isn't only, “Can I do this job?”, but “Can I keep adapting inside this job?”

The hiring outlook in the UK is uneven by sector and region of the country, and that's exactly why generic advice tends to fail you. In practical terms, you'll see some employers pausing recruitment while others are pushing hard because they can't find the right mix of capability and attitude.

This is where you benefit from looking beyond job titles and focusing on the underlying problems a business needs solved.

If you want a realistic answer, you have to look at the skills shortage beneath the headlines. Many firms aren't struggling to find people in general; they're struggling to find people who can blend technical competence with judgment, stakeholder management, and delivery under constraints. That combination is rarer than it should be, which means your 'soft skills' aren't soft at all when they directly affect outcomes.

You also have more transferable skills than you think, but they only become useful when you translate them into an employer's language. Done any of these things?

• Handled competing priorities,
• Improved a process,
• Dealt with customers,
• Managed risk,
• Written clearly,
• Trained others,
• Fixed recurring problems,

Then you've been doing valuable work that travels across industries. When you describe it with evidence and results, you stop sounding like you're 'hoping' and start sounding like you're 'ready'.

When people ask me about in-demand jobs, they often mean a fixed list, but the more strategic approach is to look for recurring needs that appear across many organisations. Data literacy, cyber awareness, AI-enabled workflow, compliance, project delivery, and customer experience keep showing up, whether the company is a charity, a start-up, or a large corporation.

If you build competence in one of these areas while staying grounded in what you genuinely enjoy, you avoid chasing trends and start building leverage.

It's also okay to want work that feels good as well as pays the bills. If your values are ignored, you'll eventually disengage, no matter how sensible the role looks on paper. When you're considering careers in 2026 and beyond, assume you'll be changing direction more than once, and that you'll do better if you choose environments that match how you like to work, not just what you can do.

Your network matters more than ever, and not
in a superficial way!

Networking is simply relationship-building: staying curious, being helpful, and keeping in touch so opportunities can find you naturally. If you wait until you're desperate for a job, it feels transactional; if you build connections steadily, it becomes normal and low-pressure.

You'll also notice that many people now have several career chapters and, increasingly, more than one income stream at the same time.

That might look like a part-time role alongside freelancing, contracting between permanent jobs, or a portfolio of small projects that add up. It's not about hustling yourself into exhaustion; it's about resilience, and designing options so you're less exposed to any single employer's decisions.

So the career landscape now rewards clarity, adaptability, and relationships, where you'll progress faster by articulating your transferable skills, targeting real business needs, and choosing work that aligns with your values as well as your strengths.

Actively shape your career, and you'll be ready for whatever comes next.

Until next time ...

DAVE CORDLE
Career Development Professional

07941 690 391

www.davecordle.co.uk / www.linkedin.com/in/davecordle

Everything you need for your career:  www.davecordle.co.uk/basecamp

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About Dave Cordle ...
I began my professional life training as a cartographer with the Directorate of Overseas Surveys, a department of the British government. I made maps of places such as Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Sudan and the British Virgin Islands. It was a fascinating time, being involved in planning the flights for aerial photography, interpreting the photographs and eventually producing the plates for the different layers of the final map. It was during my latter years as a cartographer and my career in computing that I undertook bigger mountaineering expeditions to the Andes, the Himalayas, the Tien Shan and the Caucasus. At that time I also held various leadership roles in scouting. I coached and trained young people successfully leading them to develop themselves and embrace new experiences. So that’s where my passion comes from to help young people learn the strategies for success that I share with my business and career clients. My journey in personal professional development and coaching has been amazing, and will continue to be so: it’s why I’m here, it’s my big passion. It’s what has informed my vision and mission. However unlikely your dream might seem, if you keep taking steps towards it, even small steps, you may well just surprise yourself.

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