Jobs posted are ahead of the same time last year, according to the latest Keep Britain Working job index report. Job vacancies for March 2021 are 17% up on the same month last year.
The country went into the first lockdown on the 23rd March 2020 so it is expected that job levels this March would be close to what was seen last year but even so this is encouraging news for the job market.
There is promising news in some sectors that have struggled in the face of the pandemic. Leisure and tourism roles saw a big jump on the previous month (almost 3 times), with the roadmap out of lockdown allowing the sector to open up more in April.
With the end of the stamp duty holiday approaching, jobs posted in the Construction & Property and Estate Agency sectors have increased month on month, the former showing an increase of 24%, and the latter up 32% month on month. The Hospitality-Catering sector also showed positive signs with the strongest month since March last year, posting a 77% month on month increase in jobs posted, albeit still 60% down on January last year. There is no doubt that venues are getting ready to welcome patrons back through their doors and we expect to see a further uplift in recruitment in future months.
There are positive signs for those leaving higher education as graduate roles and internships increased month on month by 96% and posted the most number of roles since February 2020. This will be welcome news for many finding themselves with limited opportunities despite their newly acquired qualifications. It is important however that focus remains on this group of jobseekers, their post-study intentions may have been dramatically impacted by the pandemic.
