New data shows that employer demand for candidates remains at a higher level than before the onset of lockdown in March 2020.
Research released by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) shows continuous growth in job adverts for skilled occupations.
In the week beginning the 21st June, there were 192,000 new job adverts posted. Overall, this amounts to 1.55 million active job postings in the UK at the end of June.
The REC identified this surge in job vacancies as arising from the re-opening of industries which had been closed during the pandemic including hospitality and leisure.
During this period, candidates for certain occupations were highly sought after by recruiters.
Market research interviewers (+15.7 per cent) was the occupation with the highest weekly increase in active job postings.
There was also a growth in adverts for teaching and other education professional (+13.6 per cent), school midday and crossing patrol occupations (+8.2 per cent) and school secretaries (+6.3 per cent) due to the likely seasonal demand within the education sector.
In addition, areas such as Thurrock and London were shown to display the highest levels of employer demand.
However, recent research by the Resolution Foundation has warned that, although the labour market recovery is well-underway, this should not be overstated.
Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, spoke of the prevalent skills gaps that must be filled:
Sustained momentum in our jobs market is great news, but vacancies and unemployment don’t just resolve themselves – it takes support to help people find their new role.
Rising job adverts for roles that require key skills to get hired – from IT to haulage – highlight the ongoing need to put the skills and job search support people need in place. Tackling this mis-match, in the context of a tightening labour market, should be a priority for government and businesses, working together.
In addition, Mr. Carberry further emphasised the need to overhaul and rework certain schemes to effectively promote getting people into work:
We need to act now to make sure we do the right thing for jobseekers and our economy. That means a plan that reforms the skills system by listening to business about what is really needed, like changes to the apprenticeship levy.
It also includes ensuring job search support programmes are effective and get people to work quickly. And it should acknowledge where shortages are so severe our only option is adding roles to the immigration shortage occupation list, which is overdue a refresh.
*The Jobs Recovery Tracker is produced by the REC in partnership with Emsi, using their Job Postings Analytics data which is harvested from tens of thousands of job boards. Data was harvested between 14 and 27 June 2021.
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.
