Vacancy numbers hit pre-Covid levels in record week

-First week of August begins with a record week, with new jobs up 14%
- Healthcare, education, transport and construction jobs recovering
- Application numbers drop 62% year on year

Job vacancy numbers saw a 14% week on week increase at the beginning of August, with new roles advertised hitting pre-Covid figures. That’s according to the latest real-time statistics from the world’s largest network of job boards, Broadbean Technology.



Vacancy numbers recovering



According to the data, hiring in the UK hit a record high last week since lockdown began, with the greatest number of jobs posted since mid-March, continuing the recovery that’s been noted over the last three weeks. Across the sectors, those reporting the greatest week on week uptick were education (42%), healthcare (36%), construction (36%) and transport (27%), suggesting that the Prime Minister’s ‘build, build, build’ plans are continuing to support progress across the UK.



Application numbers reveal reliance on furlough safety net



Broadbean Technology’s data also indicates that the furlough scheme is acting as a potential safety net for UK staff, with a 62% drop in the number of people actively seeking new roles in July when compared to the same time last year. With the latest government statistics revealing that 9.5 million people were on furlough at the end of the month, it appears that many are relying on the scheme when they would perhaps have looked for alternative employment. However, with the CIPD revealing this week that one in three employers plan to make redundancies in Q3, these numbers will likely spike in the coming months.



Alex Fourlis, Managing Director at Broadbean Technology commented



“The continued recovery that we’ve noted over the last few weeks is certainly promising and to finally be able to say that job numbers are back at pre-Covid levels is a reassuring sign that we’re on the right path. The sectors that are seeing the biggest uptick in activity are perhaps to be expected as the country continues preparations to fully reopen schools next month and get construction and transport projects back on track.”



“However, the fact that the number of applications per vacancy has dropped year on year suggests more people are choosing the safety of either the furlough scheme or their current job when they perhaps would have searched elsewhere in normal conditions. But with furlough support beginning to wind down, it’s highly likely that we will soon see this spike as individuals face more uncertainty and we hope that vacancy numbers continue on their upward trajectory to support those looking for employment from September onwards.”

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