Vacancies hit one million in the UK

The latest research published by the UK government’s Office for National Statistics makes interesting reading for businesses everywhere.

Some signs are good, and do point to a definite recovery in the labour market, with the number of payroll employees rising by 182,000 to 18.9 million in July 2021. While encouraging, that is still 201,000 below the levels before Covid-19 took hold. Overall, since the onset of the pandemic, the rate of employment has decreased, while unemployment has been on the rise.

That said, the employment rate actually increased to 75.1% – a rise of 0.3% – between April and June this year, while the unemployment rate dropped by 0.2% to 4.7%. In addition, the redundancy rate also decreased during that period and has now returned to pre-pandemic levels.

There was also growth in the experimental single month vacancy estimates and Adzuna online job adverts, both of which continued to exceed their pre-Covid levels in July 2021. In fact, single-month vacancy estimates topped one million for the first time.

For Rosa dos Santos, owner of Exact Sourcing, the rise in vacancies represents both a challenge and an opportunity. ‘Here at Exact, we are flat out working both with our clients to source the best talent for their vacancies and with our candidates to ensure they are placed in the most appropriate positions,’ says Rosa. ‘Clearly, the fact that vacancies across the UK hit one million would indicate that there is plenty of choice for candidates, but for us it is all about being selective and taking the right position not just for now, but for your future development.

‘And likewise for our clients it is also a case of being rigorous in their selection processes. The pandemic has caused a huge shift in our attitude to work and the nature of employment, and employers are having to adapt too. But that doesn’t mean compromising when it comes to recruitment, and that’s where we come in. We work with clients at the start of the process to shape the job description and identify the core skills that are needed, and we then help them throughout the recruitment process by screening applicants and presenting only those who we feel will fulfil all the requirements.’

Exact Sourcing is a recruitment agency in Cambridge and Newmarket, and we also serve Ely, Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Royston and Sawston. If you have a vacancy to fill and you’re keen to recruit the best candidate, why not contact us for an initial conversation?

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