New research suggests that the labour market may be turning in favour of the job applicants with a rising number of vacancies and a fall in applications per vacancy.
Data by CV-Library, an independent job board, shows that the current position of UK’s labour market has changed significantly in recent weeks.
However, the new research published today shows that the number of job vacancies has been rising each month whilst, comparatively, the number of job applications has remained relatively low.
During the month of June, the number of job vacancies rose by +12.3 per cent. However, the number of job applications saw a downwards trend – with a 13.8 per cent decrease in number of applications per role.
This was especially true for industries such as hospitality (down 39.5 per cent), customer services (down 27.9 per cent) and distribution (down 25.3 per cent).
As such, this has led to an increase in salaries, with wages rising by +16.2 per cent month-on-month.
Reflecting the demand outnumbering the supply of candidates, the industries that experienced the biggest salary jumps were the hospitality sector (up 9.1 per cent), the distribution sector (up 7.4 per cent) and the design sector (up 6.5 per cent).
This comes as the Prime Minister announced the lifting of lockdown restrictions from the 19th July, which will see industries that were forced to close in some capacity such as hospitality and leisure, permitted to fully re-open for the first time in over a year.
Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library, described the impact this has had on the labour market:
As the UK prepares to open up fully at the end of the month, businesses have been increasing their hiring efforts extensively.
While this massive influx of vacancies is certainly positive for job seekers, it has flipped the power dynamic of the UK job market on its head. This change means that candidates now hold the power and it’s important they use this opportunity to really negotiate for the job and compensation that they want.
Further, Biggins forecast this power dynamic to remain in favour of candidates looking for a job as opposed to employers:
The Prime Minister’s upcoming announcement will likely reinforce this new power dynamic as more businesses return to normal. As such, employers will need to bring their A-game when it comes to hiring staff this summer. Business owners should evaluate the compensation package they’re offering to new staff and make adjustments if necessary.
Failure to do so will have a significant impact on their ability to hire and could delay their recovery from the pandemic.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
