Job seekers are still looking for roles that offer personal rather than financial reward, as Covid-19 restrictions in the UK have now come to an end.
A survey by job search engine Adzuna suggests the experiences of the last two years have had a major impact on people’s career aspirations. “Pet-sitter” was their most searched job of the last quarter of 2021 with “Animal Handler” at number 8 on the list – also reflecting the increased number of pet adoptions during lockdown. On average, a Pet Sitter job was clicked on 16 times.
However, the desire to see the world again as it opens up to travellers means jobs as “Cabin Crew” run the pet business a close second, with 14 clicks per vacancy.
Paul Lewis, chief customer officer at Adzuna, said: “The most sought after jobs in the UK are roles where workers are doing what they love or giving back to the community, rather than scoring high salaries. Animal jobs are proving particularly popular, with Pet Sitter roles the most clicked on job ads of the thousands of job roles on our site. “
Only one of the jobs in the top 10 most searched pays more than £30,000 a year – Chauffeur at number 5. Most, including per-sitter, offer less than £25,000 a year – well below the UK national average of £31,000 a year.
The highest paid role within the top 30 most sought-after jobs is KYC (‘Know Your Customer’) Analyst, seeing average advertised salaries of £50,457 and 348 jobs available. Other high paid, high demand roles include Private Personal Assistant paying £48,030, and Crane Crew Supervisor paying £46,053.
Mr Lewis said: “We’ve also seen a surge in interest for roles such as NHS Call Handlers as Brits look to do their part and help the health service. Another interesting trend is the rise in popularity for training trade jobs, suggesting more workers are moving into these areas.”
The research, which analysed over 3.8 million UK job vacancies also shows trade training positions are highly sought after, likely helped by the boom in DIY and home renovations creating high demand and attractive salaries for skilled tradespeople. “Electrician Mate” positions saw an average click/ad rate of 4.3, while “Plumber Mate” roles had an average click/ad rate of 4.1.
Feyaza Khan has been a journalist for more than 20 years in print and broadcast. Her special interests include neurodiversity in the workplace, tech, diversity, trauma and wellbeing.
