New analysis suggests that over 1 in 6 job opportunities in the UK now require candidates to possess a valid driving license.
A study conducted by the RAC Foundation examined data from the first week of October 2023, during which there were a total of 1,092,172 job vacancies listed on Adzuna, a popular job vacancy aggregator site.
Of these 1,092,172 job adverts, 189,608 (17.4%) explicitly or implicitly mandated applicants to have at least a standard driving license. This was either due to the nature of the job, the requirement to drive during work, or the need for a car to commute to work.
The analysis looked at data from the same week in October over the past eight years, revealing that the proportion of roles requiring driving remained higher in 2023 than in any of the four years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Job adverts and driving requirements, 2016-2023 (first week of October in each year)
| Year | All Adzuna Adverts | Driving | Total | Driving % |
| 2016 | 178,535 | 263,630 | 15.2 |