Active job postings in April this year were down 36% on the equivalent period in 2023, but remain above pre-pandemic levels.
The latest Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast Labour Market Tracker found 1,731,378 active postings in April. Of these, 769,469 were new – representing a 9.9% decline on the previous month and a 20.3% decline from the year before (April 2023).
This was expected to some extent, as it reflects the slowdown stemming from the brief period of recession, and includes the Easter break.
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The REC said the UK labour market has become more constrained than previously, because demographic changes, long-term sickness and challenging early career paths have all contributed to lower supply. Today’s data underlined, it said, that even in a mild recession, hiring activity did not decline in the way it might have in the past. While job advert numbers were dropping, they remain above the pre-pandemic norm.
REC chief executive Neil Carberry said the figures reflected the continuing shortage of skills in several sectors: “Business surveys, the growth figures and recent anecdote from REC members give us some grounds for optimism about the jobs market this summer, but that doesn’t hide the trend of declining activity over the winter and spring as the labour market reacted to the recession.
“What is notable, however, is that ads remained relatively high by historic standards – even if lower than the post-pandemic years. This is a clear sign of the residual tight labour supply position the UK is in as demographic change, issues with long-term sickness and challenges in the skills system continue to bite.”
Regionally, the highest growth in job postings in April was in rural Wales, with Powys (+12.1%) and Gwynedd (+6.6%) leading the survey results.
All the top 10 regions with the highest percentage of growth were based in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland.
The UK can only compete on the quality and skill of our workforce. Employers and politicians need to realise that getting the people stuff right is critical to commercial success” – Neil Carberry, REC
The sharpest declines were in Westminster (-17.4%), Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (-17.5%) and Sheffield (-18.8%). This was the second month in a row that Sheffield has seen a decline in active postings.
Demand for delivery staff, lorry drivers, scaffolders and riggers was high. The sharpest declines in demand were seen in prison officers, probation officers and data entry administrators.
Carberry, citing figures from the REC’s Overcoming Shortages report from July 2022, highlighted the threat to the economy from a lack of skills.
He said: “The UK can only compete on the quality and skill of our workforce. Employers and politicians need to realise that getting the people stuff right is critical to commercial success. Flexibility in how people work is critical to economic success and the welfare of the workforce of the UK.”
The Overcoming Shortages report calculated that with a 10% surge in demand for staff across the economy, and the labour market restricted by shortages, the UK could experience a 1.2% fall in expected GDP and productivity by 2027 – costing the economy anywhere between £30bn and £39bn every year.
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