What hiring in the UK looks like right now

What does hiring in the UK look like as we enter the summer? LinkedIn’s data shows that while overall hiring has been slowing over the past year, several sectors are seeing hiring pick up – and in many industries, the number of jobs advertised is much higher than a year ago.

LinkedIn’s hiring rate shows that overall hiring in the UK has been slowing since June 2022, with particular year-over-year drops of 24.5% in May and August last year. Office for National Statistics data out today also shows an unexpected rise in the unemployment rate, but pay growth remained above inflation. However, LinkedIn’s hiring rate has seen improvements compared to last year – though hiring in the first three months of 2024 was more than 10% down year over year, by April it was just 5% lower than April 2023.

Certain industries have even seen hiring start to pick up, with education, wholesale, consumer services and real estate all showing a rise in hiring year over year. The improvement is particularly notable in real estate, where hiring was up 7% in April compared to the same month in 2023, though it was still below hiring levels in 2022.

Alongside this, the Recruitment and Employment Federation said on Monday it found that permanent hiring had fallen by the lowest amount in 14 months, with “clear improvements on most measures”. This and the ONS data that showed pay still rising will play into the Bank of England’s decision on rates, with many expecting cuts later this year.

Economic growth in the first quarter of 2024 “firmly ends the shallow recession seen in the second half of 2023,” says Rosie Hood, LinkedIn Economic Graph’s lead data scientist, EMEA. “As the economy looks to keep this momentum, all eyes are on the Bank of England on 20 June to begin interest rate cuts. However, we may see a delay here – though April’s inflation figure is closer to the Bank’s 2% target, it is still higher than predicted.”[quote from expert about economy bouncing back, inflation rate, bank rate cut]

More than a third of roles are hybrid – but remote work is shrinking

Also notable is the recent rise in hybrid job postings – and fall in remote roles. Around 9% of roles offered remote work in April 2024, compared to an average of 10% throughout 2023, whereas hybrid roles make up over four times the share of remote roles offered.

The proportion of hybrid roles advertised on LinkedIn has generally fallen since August 2023, when 50% of advertised roles were hybrid, but this proportion has started to tick back up in 2024 – in April, 41% of advertised positions offered hybrid work. While demand for hybrid jobs still outstrips supply, this is also narrowing – demand in April was around 5% higher than the hybrid jobs available, compared to an average of 9% higher in 2023.

When it comes to job adverts, one sector has pulled ahead of others in the past few months – government administration. In March and April, government administration job postings on LinkedIn were more than 250% higher than the same month in 2023. This could include roles across the civil service, as well as those in the justice services, including the police, where a recent recruitment drive has opened thousands of roles, and some forces introduced new application routes from April.

The recent LinkedIn Guide to Starting Your Career showed that policing and security have seen some of the fastest growth in opportunities for recent graduates, slightly ahead of the healthcare sector, where paramedic, nurse and healthcare assistant were among the fastest growing roles.

Some of this is also likely why the hospitals and healthcare sector has seen some of the highest growth in job postings at all seniority levels in the UK. In March, job posts in the sector were up 172% compared to 2023, and by the new financial year in April, the number of job ads had risen by more than 180% year over year.

In third place is technology and media – while tech took a hit globally at the end of last year, with major firms making cuts, the wider industry has seen strong jobs growth in the UK, with job postings up consistently in March and April compared to the same time last year. In April, job ads were up over 120% year over year.

A look at the most in-demand jobs also reveals some of why these industries are topping the chart when it comes to jobs growth. IT sales roles, including software account executive and technical sales rep, were among the fastest growing in March and April, while information management was second in March and in the top five most in-demand roles in April. Specific jobs in that field include information coordinator and information management officer, which can be found in many sectors, including planning and construction and a range of civil service departments.

Business development roles remain some of the most in demand, which aligns with the wider trend in the UK demonstrated in this year’s Jobs on the Rise list. In April, transportation roles rose up the ranking, with management of supply chains, logistics and warehouse operations all skills in demand in that area.

Which job hoppers are most likely to switch industries?

Looking at the other end of the spectrum, those sectors where job postings have declined the most include entertainment providers and retail – the latter saw job postings decline 74% between April 2023 and April 2024.

Notably, people in retail were as likely to apply for roles outside their sector as they were within retail – but in other sectors, including entertainment providers, education, real estate and consumer services, jobseekers were much more likely to be looking outside their area than within it.

When it comes to switching sectors, some transitions appear to be smoother than others. In education, for instance, more than a fifth of people moving out of the sector transitioned into professional services – which includes areas such as human resources, marketing and bookkeeping. Similarly, those moving out of consumer services were most likely to find roles in the professional services sector.

However, moving in and out of technical sectors is likely to require more specific skills, and possibly retraining or upskilling to successfully pivot. Areas such as health and the built environment are likely to require specific knowledge, for instance.

When hiring is slow, it’s understandable why people choose to look further afield – but as the hiring rate ticks back up in real estate and education, will people choose to stick in their sector instead of pivoting out?

Source : linkedin.com

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