The jobs market is experiencing a summer slump, but the drop in job postings is not as sharp as it was in summer 2022, according to job search engine Adzuna.
After six months of month-on-month growth, the total number of UK vacancies in July dropped by 1.11% to 1.04 million, compared to a month earlier. At the same time, the average advertised salary fell slightly from £37,780 to £37,750.
Organisations’ hiring efforts usually slow down during the summer months, and Adzuna said the declines in both vacancies and advertised salaries was consistent with trends seen in previous years. However, the month-on-month difference in job postings between June and July has shrunk compared with the same period in 2022, when the gap was 2.08%.
Summer 2023 job postings
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The year-on-year gap in vacancies has also continued to shrink, according to Adzuna’s UK job market report, suggesting that employers’ desire to recruit remains comparatively stronger than last year. In May, the year-on-year vacancy gap was -16.8%, but by June this had shrunk to -12% and by July 2023, the gap was just -10.96%.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder at Adzuna, said: “The UK jobs market has entered its summer slowdown period with vacancies down, advertised salaries down and the time to fill roles increasing.
“Whilst it’s natural to see vacancies fall during the summer months, as companies traditionally slow hiring, the early figures for July’s jobs data will demonstrate to UK policymakers that inflation truly should be on a downward trajectory.”
Advertised salaries are also much stronger, but there are more job postings without a stated salary than last year, contrary to the belief that employers are being more open about what they are willing to pay.
Only three sectors registered a fall in average advertised salaries compared to last July. These were: HR & recruitment (-5.91%), IT jobs (-4.24%), and scientific and quality assurance jobs (-1.58%).
Social work jobs have seen the biggest increase in advertised salaries, up 20.47% to £33,577 on average compared with July 2022.
Regionally, Northern Ireland saw the largest increase in annual advertised salary growth (9.5%), followed by East Midlands (7.84%) and Yorkshire and the Humber (7.64%). London was the only region to see annual salaries fall, down 1.22%.
According to Adzuna, warehouse work is the top trending category for the second month running. The company tracks a wide range of occupations and designates an ‘interest quotient’ for each role, based on demand from jobseekers.
Lorry driving and social care jobs also experienced high demand from jobseekers.
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