Vaccine mandate sends application numbers tumbling at critical time of year

The number of people applying for jobs in the UK dropped 25% in November as vacancies continued to increase, putting future economic growth at risk. That’s according to the latest real-time statistics from the world’s largest network of job boards, Broadbean Technology.

This decline in applications comes at a time when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported another record increase in hiring, with vacancies in September to November 2021 rising to a new record of 1,219,000.

Health and social care hit hard

According to the data, social care saw a 5% increase in vacancies between October and November and is up 50% year-on-year. This is in line with the ONS which revealed that the human health and social work sector has reported its greatest quarterly growth in vacancies.

In comparison, Broadbean’s statistics indicate that the number of people applying for roles in healthcare dropped by 25% between October and November and is down by 42% year-on-year. This is indicative of the impact of the Government's recent decision to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for those working in the health and social care sector.

The data has also shown a similar trend for medical and nursing vacancies, with a 4% increase in available jobs between October and November and a rise of 45% year-on-year. Comparatively, applications saw an 18% decrease between October and November and a 63% year-on-year decline last month.

As Alex Fourlis, Managing Director at Broadbean Technology explained:

“The ongoing shortage of talent is a concern for the UK. We’re experiencing a significant and sustained increase in hiring activity that is draining already limited talent pools, with some sectors certainly feeling the impact more than others. The decline in applications across social and healthcare is worrying at a time when the Omicron variant is putting further pressure in the care and medical professions. The vaccination mandate across social care and planned mandate for the general healthcare sector has only exacerbated the dearth of talent at a critical time.”


ENDS

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