March Labour Market Information Bulletin
Your monthly update for labour market information with local and national news.
Don’t forget – you can see local job vacancies our own Online Jobs Board.
The BBC reports on ‘Where are Britain’s missing million workers?’
It is a well-known fact that UK employers are struggling to recruit skilled workers despite UK vacancies standing at a record 1.2 million at this time. This report highlights the reasons for this current shrinkage in the UK job market.
More people (400,000 according to ONS figures) are now classed as ‘economically inactive’, i.e. not looking and not available for work. For more information on this topic click on the link.
Amazon creates hundreds of apprenticeships
Amazon have announced 1,500 new apprenticeship vacancies across a number of roles including engineering, customer service, applied research and cyber security. 200 of these will be at degree level.
Please see link for the Higher and Degree Vacancy Listing for 2022 created last month by Amazing Apprenticeships.
Business Live report on Openreach’s plans to create 4,000 jobs this year which include 3,000 apprenticeships.
Hilton hotels recruit 1,000 new staff in UK and Ireland
Hilton hotels have announced plans to recruit 1,000 new staff including 300 apprentices this year. Roles include mixologists, beauty therapists, apprentice chefs and housekeepers. The chain is also opening up nine new hotels including a further branch in London.
The most in-demand jobs in the UK
A list has been compiled which, according to linked in, are the twenty most in- demand jobs in the UK.
Business and Finance apprenticeships prove the most popular
FE Times reports that recruiters the Talent People have analysed apprenticeship data from GetMyFirstJob and revealed the top 10 most popular apprenticeships of 2021. Traditional careers in Business and Finance are proving to be the most attractive along with Digital and Tech roles.
ADCAS Education Alternatives 2021
This publication looks at a wide range of education careers as alternatives to teaching in mainstream schools.
It is a particularly useful resource for:
· students and recent graduates drawn towards an educational role but not sure that mainstream teaching is for them
· trainee and qualified teachers seeking to move to a different role in education
Grocery company creates UK jobs
Getir have announced they are creating 6,000 jobs this year in 20 cities and towns across the UK. The Turkish company only launched a year ago and already employs 4,000 people.
Magistrates needed across England and Wales
4,000 new magistrates are being sought across England and Wales in order to help tackle the backlog of criminal cases caused by the pandemic. The campaign is aiming to attract people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Travelodge recruitment campaign
600 vacancies exist for managers, hospitality staff, cleaners and receptionists with Travelodge.
Veterans to be fast-tracked into jobs
The government have announced their veterans’ strategy action plan to facilitate the fast-tracking of veterans into jobs as teachers, prison officers and into the NHS as part of a new scheme to improve their employment prospects.
London’s recruitment levels are booming
Bdaily report that London’s recruitment levels are recovering well and are now 40 per cent higher than before the pandemic. In particular, the financial sector is enjoying
‘real growth’ with over 32,000 Financial Services jobs created in 2021 in London (an 118% increase on 2020).
BT to recruit hundreds of apprentices and graduates
Business Live report that BT are to hire 600 apprentices and graduates later this year in a number of locations including London. The roles will be in engineering, customer service, applied research and cyber-security.
The RNLI are advertising their summer jobs. The link above will provide information about eligibility, the role itself and how to access training for those who don’t hold their national vocational beach lifeguard qualification (or equivalent).
UK Tech News reports on the number of IT job vacancies in England and Wales which has ‘surpassed pre-pandemic levels’. According to recruitment consultancy Robert Walters their data finds that IT professionals grew by 105% on 2020 levels.
J P Morgan posted the most IT vacancies in 2021 with over 2,600 IT professional vacancies. A notable 151.5% increase was found in IT Support roles. London is still an attractive hub with 47,5% of new jobs, but the South came in with the second highest number of IT jobs with a 95% YoY increase and accounting for 26% of all IT roles.
Construction jobs in the South West
Kier launched a recruitment drive last month with over 1,200 jobs in the construction industry in some areas of the UK including the South West of England.
Bristol Airport expansion approved
Business Live report on the approval of the expansion of Bristol Airport which will be a huge boost for the region’s economy, support tourism for the region and create thousands of jobs in the future.
Thousands of apprenticeships created
Thousands of apprenticeships are to be created according to a Business Live report which announced during National Apprenticeship week the plans of some of the country’s biggest firms to take on apprentices this year. These include companies such as the Co-op, HS2, Virgin Media 02 and Kwik Fit.
Bdaily have also announced 1,500 new flexi-job apprenticeships which enable apprentices to work across several short placements during their apprenticeship.
Prisoners in open prisons will now be able to take up an apprenticeship, enabling them to gain the skills and training needed to secure a job on release. Initially one hundred prisoners in England will be offered the chance to take up an apprenticeship before the scheme is available across the country.
Latest labour market statistics from the Office of National Statistics
· The latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates for October to December 2021 show a continuing recovery in the labour market, with a quarterly increase in the employment rate and a decrease in the unemployment rate. However, economic inactivity has increased slightly on the quarter.
· The UK employment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter to 75.5%.
· The number of self-employed workers remains low following decreases seen during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however the number of employees increased on the quarter to another record high. Job-to-job moves reached record numbers in October to December 2021, driven by resignations.
· Our most timely estimate of pay-rolled employees shows another monthly increase (up 108,000) in January 2022 to a record 29.5 million.
· The unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points on the quarter to 4.1%, while the economic inactivity rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 21.2%. The increase in economic inactivity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic was largely driven by those who are economically inactive because they are students or for “other” reasons. In the latest three-month period however, those who are inactive because they are students continued to decrease, while the increase was driven by those who are inactive because of long-term sickness and “other” reasons.
· The number of job vacancies in November 2021 to January 2022 rose to a new record of 1,298,400, an increase of 513,700 from its pre-coronavirus January to March 2020 level. However, the rate of growth in vacancies continued to slow down. The ratio of vacancies to every 100 employee jobs continued to rise, reaching a record high of 4.3 in November 2021 to January 2022, with the majority of industry sectors displaying record high ratios.
· The largest decrease in the employment rate was in the South East at 0.8 percentage points.
Thank you to the Education Development Trust for providing the information for this bulletin.
