Already this year, tax vacancies rose 14% in Q1 2025, showed the latest data from Morgan McKinley, while the number of tax vacancies is expected to skyrocket to over 3,500 this year, up from around 2,250 in 2023.

Generalist tax vacancies remain the largest category, set to hit 2,036 this year, an 11% increase that accounts for 58% of the total. But there is also growing demand for indirect tax experts with VAT compliance jobs likely to account for 8% of all tax vacancies.

The geographic split is changing with increasing demand for tax specialists outside London as the recruitment firm said vacancies are up ‘well beyond the capital’, accounting for 61% of projected roles.

Meantime, Big Four firms are displaying mixed recruitment patterns. KPMG has been the biggest hirer, and remains so, leading the market with 296 projected roles in 2025, up 66% from last year. However, PwC is set to cut tax hiring by 24% year on year, while EY is projected to increase hiring by less than 10% in 2025.