The Jobs Market so far in 2021 according to Michelle Pollard

The words “challenging”, “unprecedented” or “WFH” will not be mentioned anywhere in this blog however the recruitment landscape has rapidly changed and jobs that never existed do now.  Such jobs with titles like “Remote Working Manager”, “Wellness Screener” and “COVID-19 Testing Specialist”. Of course, it remains to be seen if they will stand the test of time post COVID however the world of work and the jobs market has certainly changed and as with anything we will always see growth in certain sectors.  E-commerce, healthcare, digital marketing, professional coaching and freelancing are among the UK’s fastest growing jobs in 2021, a recent article by LinkedIn says.

According to the professional networking site, which has 29 million members in the UK despite the difficult environment for freelancers, there’s been a big spike in people embracing the gig-economy.  As firms continue to adapt to the corona virus pandemic, changing consumer behaviour and business needs are creating new job opportunities.   COVID-19 saw a rise in online shopping, as such, e-commerce personnel tops the list, with hiring hotpots in Birmingham, Northampton, Manchester and Leicester.  No surprise either to see jobs including driver, supply chain associate, supply chain assistant, warehouse team lead and online specialist, growing by 143% in 2020 compared to 2019.

So what does 2021 hold for the UK jobs market? There will be many a business owner and leader breathing a sigh of relief that the vaccine roll out is proving to be very successful indeed. According to the latest information from Adzuna, a national job search engine, advertised UK job vacancies climbed 16.3% throughout January, with 748,667 job ads live in the final week of January (25th-31st). This is compared to just 580,522 in the first full week of January (4th-10th) equal to more than 168,000 new openings. These statistics represent a new post Covid-19 high for UK jobs and is the highest number of jobs offered since March 2020. And the rest of Q1 followed closely with similar buoyant numbers.  There will be many thinking this could be pent up demand however it is more likely companies can see a potential light at the end of the tunnel and recruiting great people will always be a cornerstone to success.

Here at Spider, we have experienced growth in sectors that are closely aligned with the findings of the world’s largest professional networking site as well as Engineering, Construction and Technical sectors.  From January to April 2021 we have seen first hand a 133% increase on the number of clients recruiting through us and our sub divisions in comparison to the same period last year.  The most savviest companies in the region know that on average it takes 56 days to hire talent and no doubt they are making sure that they are ahead of the curve ready for when lockdown is completely lifted and a degree of normality returns. For us whilst we never would want to experience 2020 again we do move forward with positivity and the outlook is somewhat brighter.

For more information on our award winning recruitment services and online job advertising from just £395 visit www.spiderrecruit.co.uk or call 01473 276146