Business News Round Up (27/01/2026)
UK hit hardest by AI job losses, Morgan Stanley finds
The UK is being hit harder economically by AI, with the nation losing more jobs to AI than creating them compared to rival countries. This is according to a new report from Morgan Stanley, which found that the acceleration of job loss over job creation due to AI is hitting the UK faster than countries like Germany, the US, Japan and Australia. The study investigated organisations that had been using AI for at least a year, with a focus on five industries, including retail, real estate, transport, automobiles, and health-care equipment. While British firms using AI say an average 11.5% productivity boost, firms in the US saw nearly the same bump, but created more jobs than they cut. In the UK, firms said that AI caused a net job loss of 8% over the past 12 months, the highest rate compared to equivalent economies, and twice the international average.
https://www.digit.fyi/uk-hit-hardest-by-ai-job-losses-morgan-stanley-finds
Savills: Scottish prime market to outperform London and regions
Scotland is set to be the strongest performing prime residential market in the UK over the next five years, outperforming both London and the wider regions, according to the latest forecast from Savills. The property firm says the sector is entering 2026 from a position of relative strength, characterised by robust sales activity and steady price growth. While Prime Central London is expected to experience a further modest dip in value before a slow recovery, the markets furthest from the capital are primed for a quicker rebound. Savills identifies the relatively affordable prime markets of the Midlands, the North of England, and Wales as strong performers, yet predicts that Scotland will lead the pack overall. This resilience is attributed to broad-based buyer demand which is expected to translate into renewed transactional activity as mortgage rates begin to ease.
UK vacancies fall for sixth straight month
UK job vacancies declined in December 2025, marking the sixth consecutive monthly fall, pushing competition for roles to its highest level in more than four years, according to the latest UK Job Market Report by Adzuna. High inflation, economic uncertainty and the rising use of AI continue to impact hiring. Adzuna data shows vacancies in December fell -3.84% month-on-month to 716,791 jobs. Vacancies fell -15.09% below December 2024’s levels and represented the lowest average vacancy levels of any full year since 2020 making it one of the worst years for jobseekers since the COVID-19 pandemic. With hiring slowing, employers are cutting back on remote roles and demanding greater office presence, pulling advertised remote jobs to their lowest level since March 2020. There were 45,581 advertised remote job ads in December, down -42% annually. Meanwhile, there’s an uptick in office-based job ads, even though advertised hybrid roles continue to climb steadily.
UK businesses lose 330m+ hours a year due to poor office conditions
As UK return-to-office mandates rise, new research reveals the impact of office environments on employee productivity with 71% of UK workers losing time to office distractions – adding up to 330m+ hours a year or 170,000 years of full-time work. The research by software-enabled hardware solutions business, Logitech and workplace solutions integrator, Insight, surveyed 2,000 hybrid and full-time office workers, and found 25% of UK workers lose one hour of work each week due to a poor ‘productivity climate’ – from noise levels to bad lighting, air quality and outdated tech. It highlights a clear opportunity: organisations that invest in better workplace conditions can unlock productivity, strengthen wellbeing and improve retention. As two to three days in the office becomes the norm, UK workers are relearning office etiquette. Noisy work environments threaten to drown out workplace productivity with 85% of workers admitting that a loud office impacts their stress levels.