Worrying times for the countryside, conservation sector

Job numbers continue to fall and recruitment stutters. 2025 saw a fall in the number of people on payrolls and the estimated number of vacancies in the UK also fell. Obviously national statistics come from all sectors but the countryside, conservation sector is not immune. In July 2025 National Trust announced they were looking to reduce their workforce by around 6% this follows many other organisations announcing similar restructuring and requirements to cut costs including
Peak District National Park, Forestry Commission, Natural Resources Wales and RSPB to name but a few.

The continuing commercial and economic uncertainty including the impact of the change in National Insurance contributions is affecting recruitment and staff retention levels.

It's all very worrying. For the countryside sector in general there are the implications of the loss of many years of experience and accumulated skills if staff have to leave the profession, how this may impact current and future projects and what this may mean longer term for our aspirations of a greener, more nature filled country. But it is especially alarming for those who very well may lose their jobs. Whilst CJS can't keep your job we can help (a little) towards getting a new one and are offering a free year of CJS Weekly to anyone finding themselves in this unfortunate position.

If you are in the unenviable position of having to lay off staff please tell them of our offer which, we hope, may help them find the next one.

If you have already or are about to lose your job, contract cancelled or not renewed have a free year of CJS Weekly on us. Simply complete the form here and your first edition will land in your inbox the next Friday.

This is a genuine free offer, no hidden catches or sudden requests for money; we won't be contacting you for any reason other than to send your copy of CJS Weekly and we don't sell or pass on your details. You can stop receiving at any time, simply reply to the Weekly email and we’ll delete your details from the mailing list.

CJS is GDPR compliant and registered with the Information Commissioners Office, our Data Protection Register number is: Z9570707 you can read our Privacy Policy here

You can find out more about CJS Weekly here

And why there's more in CJS Weekly than you'll find on the website - huge though it is.

By the way: If you’re happily employed and settled but want to keep in touch with developments across the sector then don’t forget CJS Professional, published the second Thursday each month, read the most recent edition here and sign up here or email [email protected] and we’ll do the rest.