One of the questions our team is asked time and again is this: when someone leaves a UK business, is their role being replaced here, or is it relocated overseas?
Cost pressure, the move towards remote-first hiring and digital transformation are changing where businesses base roles. So, like most things in life, the answer is nuanced rather than straightforward. Some roles are being offshored. Some are being reshaped. And some are becoming more UK-centric than ever.
Here’s what the 2025 data actually tells us.
The Broader UK Hiring Landscape in 2025
Offshoring is by no means a new trend, but it has accelerated in certain functions over the past few years. Reports in 2025 showed that UK businesses are increasingly moving administrative, finance, and back-office functions overseas, citing cost pressures and margin compression as key drivers. Additional reporting highlights show a rising demand for remote offshore hiring solutions among UK firms, particularly in markets like South Africa.
Cost, as always, remains a key reason, with rising employment costs and tax pressures influencing hiring strategies across a variety of sectors. More strikingly, survey data from late 2025 suggests that 57% of UK employers expect new hires to be based overseas by 2026, indicating a shift towards distributed workforces. However, this is not without friction or challenges. Over 75% of employers report compliance and regulatory challenges when hiring internationally, with each issue costing on average, around £26,000. So yes, the signs and stats show that global hiring is rising, but it comes with context and operational complexity.
Is the UK Becoming Less Attractive to Overseas Talent?
Interestingly, while UK firms are hiring abroad more frequently, inbound interest in UK roles has decreased somewhat. Data from early 2025 shows foreign job search activity for UK roles dropped to 3.8% of total searches, down from 5.7% the previous year.
These data point to two simultaneous trends:
- UK employers are looking outward for talent
- Overseas candidates are showing less interest in relocating to the UK
It would also suggest that these dynamics increase the likelihood of roles being structured as remote-first rather than UK-based.
What This Means for Procurement and Supply Chain Talent
Procurement and supply chain functions are an altogether separate category from generic back-office operations. While some transactional elements can be centralised or offshored, the strategic core of procurement remains closely tied to UK regulatory frameworks, domestic supplier ecosystems, risk governance and ESG accountability, and board-level cost and resilience strategy.
Here’s how that’s playing out in practice.
1. Transactional Procurement Is More Likely to Move
Roles focused on purchase order processing, vendor onboarding administration, data cleansing and invoice matching can be done pretty much anywhere. These activities can often be delivered effectively through shared service centres or global procurement hubs.
Obviously, this is not a new development but a continuation of established efficiency models supported by improved automation and digital systems. These operational tasks are the most vulnerable to offshoring or further automation.
2. Strategic Procurement Roles Remain UK-Centric
By contrast, roles centred on category strategy, complex negotiations, risk management, supply resilience planning, ESG and Scope 3 oversight, and regulatory compliance are significantly harder to relocate.
These positions require proximity to senior stakeholders, a deep understanding of UK-specific regulation and strong knowledge of domestic supplier markets. Since recent global supply shocks, procurement leaders are more closely embedded in organisational risk strategy. The greater the commercial impact and board-level visibility, the less likely the role is to be moved overseas. In short, the good news is that strategic and transformation-focused roles remain anchored in the UK.
3. AI Is Reshaping the Way We Work. It’s Not Replacing Our People
We’ve written a great deal in this blog about how AI is accelerating change across procurement and supply chain. However, it’s reshaping roles rather than replacing them outright. Human intervention, creativity and collaboration are still absolutely key to success.
Automation can support spend analysis, contract review and forecast modelling. It cannot replace those strong long-term supplier relationships, crisis negotiation capability, ethical judgement, or board-level influence.
As routine tasks become more automated, the emphasis shifts towards recruiting and retaining talent with higher-value commercial capability. That strengthens demand for experienced, strategically minded UK-based procurement and supply chain professionals rather than diminishing it.
Discover: What businesses really want from senior procurement hires.
4. The Talent Shortage Factor
Even as some functions globalise, the UK continues to face specialist skills shortages in advanced supply chain planning, sustainable procurement, digital transformation and AI-enabled analytics. Global hiring can help to address these gaps, but many organisations still prioritise local expertise for senior, transformation-critical roles. The commercial risk of misalignment at that level is simply too high.
This is where specialist procurement and supply chain recruitment partners like Bramwith add real value. Understanding which roles are genuinely mobile and which require local strategic alignment is essential in a market that’s evolving at pace.
Find out more about how to address the talent gaps in procurement and supply chain.
So, Are UK Roles Being Replaced Overseas?
The honest answer is:
Yes, for some operational and support roles. No, for many strategic procurement and supply chain positions. And, increasingly, roles are being redesigned rather than simply relocated. It’s more accurate to think of it as a structural recalibration and remember that in procurement and supply chain, strategic capability remains highly valued within the UK and globally.
Key Takeaways for Procurement & Supply Chain Professionals
- Offshoring is rising, particularly in administrative and back-office functions.
- 57% of UK employers expect overseas-based hires by 2026, signalling a distributed workforce shift.
- Compliance risks and hidden costs complicate offshore hiring, limiting wholesale migration.
- Strategic procurement roles remain strongly UK-anchored, especially where risk, ESG and supplier resilience are involved.
- AI is reshaping procurement roles, but not eliminating senior commercial capability.
- Specialist recruitment guidance matters more than ever, helping businesses balance global efficiency with local strategic value.
If you’re looking for your next procurement and supply chain role or are a business seeking to upskill or grow your team, get in touch today. We’d love to help.
