Job Vacancies in UK at Highest for a Year as Lockdown Eases

UK job vacancies are at their highest level since the start of the pandemic, as lifting lockdown measures leads to employers recruiting.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) say there are “early signs of recovery” in the jobs market. The unemployment rate fell slightly to 4.8% in the first three months of the year. In addition, job vacancies were up by about 48,400 on the previous quarter. In the period of February to April there were 657,000 vacancies.

However, despite the rise in job vacancies over the past year, the level is almost 128,000 below what it was pre-pandemic in the first quarter of 2020.

The figures confirm recent reports from recruitment companies that they are seeing a rise in job advertisements. Though this has led to some employers worrying they could face staff shortages.

The ONS say the number of workers on payrolls between March and April has risen by 97,000. But this is still 772,000 less than before the coronavirus pandemic. The number of employees “rose strongly in April” in particular, as the economy began reopening. But it is still very low when compared with the pre-pandemic peak.

With many businesses reopening, the recent recovery in job vacancies was seen especially in sectors such as hospitality and entertainment.

A positive sign

Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak believes the latest figures show the impact of the government’s focus on protecting jobs during the crisis. While he recognises it is not possible to save all jobs, the fact that there are nearly two million fewer people out of work than initially expected shows the plan is working.

The vacancy levels are welcomed as a positive sign for the economy, but there is still a long way to go.

Companies are beginning to report struggles to fill certain vacancies, so government support for skills and retraining is vital. An increasing number of employers are concerned about recruitment difficulties.

Businesses also still need clarification on the rules for the next step of reopening the economy, currently set for 21 June.

The jobs furlough scheme was “insulating the labour market”. Unemployment rates are expected to rise over the next few months. Although this is likely due to more people returning to work, rather than because people are losing their jobs.

The number of job vacancies over the three months to April is an encouraging sign of resilience and recovery. In addition, unemployment is down again, and employment is up for the fifth month in a row. Although recovery is slow so far as re-openings are gradual. However, hospitality and retail jobs are still much lower than levels before the pandemic.

There are also still more than four million workers on the furlough scheme, who count as employed.

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