The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s latest Jobs Recovery Tracker recorded 1.90 million active job adverts posted in the UK, during the week of 13-19 September. This is a new record high for the tracker, which started collecting data in January 2020.
A total of 223,000 new job adverts were posted last week, the second highest weekly figure since data collection began. Moreover, this growth was seen across the entire country, with every upper tier local authority in the UK seeing a rise in active job postings last week. This all suggests that the current labour shortage problems are not going away as demand for staff increases.
“Job postings are rising in every area of the UK,” said Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC. “That’s good news, and we are seeing more employees starting new positions than ever – but demand from employers is even higher still. There is a real chance now that shortages of available workers will slow the recovery. A recent REC survey of recruiters found that three in five have over 30 per cent more vacancies than usual, and 97 per cent said it’s taking longer to fill them. Labour shortages and the related recruitment difficulties put constraints on the economy, restricting output growth and innovation, so it’s vital we solve them quickly.
“Government departments must come together with industry experts to solve the shortage crisis with pragmatic and practical steps,” added Carberry. “But politicians and businesses must also do their part individually – government by addressing training at lower skill levels and allowing more flexibility in the immigration system and companies by improving workforce planning and focusing on improved conditions and facilities as ways to attract and retain staff, not just pay.”
