Engineering Helps Drive Growth in UK Jobs Market, According to Monster Employment Index

May 2012 Index Highlights:

• The Monster Employment Index UK registers a three percent increase in online job opportunities year-over-year
• Engineering charts the highest online recruitment growth year-over-year, at 20 percent. The Public Sector, HR and Hospitality and tourism also continue to demonstrate robust annual growth

• Arts, entertainment, sports, leisure sees the largest decline in recruitment activity year-over-year

• The Midlands continues to lead all regions with 15 percent growth year-over-year. Wales shows further decline for the fifth consecutive month
• Plant and machine operators, and assemblers again exhibit the highest annual growth in online recruitment of all occupational groups at 13 percent

The Monster Employment Index Europe is a monthly gauge of online job posting activity based on a real-time review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large representative selection of career web sites and online job listings across Europe. The Index does not reflect the trend of any one advertiser or source, but is an aggregate measure of the change in job listings across the industry.

“Despite the slowdown in the UK’s economy and the problems in the Eurozone, it is encouraging to see an increase in online job opportunities since this time last year. This aligns with recent ONS unemployment figures, which show a reduction in joblessness,” comments Julian Acquari, Managing Director of Monster UK & Ireland. “The increase in online recruitment is led by the engineering sector, which has seen a 20 percent rise over the last year, as well as significant growth in a range of occupations including HR, hospitality and tourism and construction. When we see opportunities spread across a range of industries in this way it’s one sign of stability.”

Industry Year-over-year Trends: 15 of the 21 industry sectors monitored by the Index exhibited annual growth in May.

• Engineering (up 20 percent) regained its position as the top performing industry in May, with activity particularly high in the Professionals group

• Public Sector, defence, community (up 14 percent) continued to demonstrate robust annual growth for the fourth consecutive month, driven by volunteer and part-time workers

• Hospitality and tourism (up 11 percent) noted increased online recruitment year-over-year in May, in line with growth seen in March and April

• Arts, entertainment, sports, leisure (down 16 percent) fell for the third consecutive month in May, dropping to the lowest level since November 2009. Reductions were particularly notable in the Service and sales workers, and Technicians and associate professionals occupations

Occupation Year-over-year Trends: Five of the nine occupational groups monitored by the Index recorded annual growth in the May Index, one remained flat and the other three declined.

• Plant and machine operators and assemblers (up 13 percent) again exhibited the highest annual growth in online recruitment due to increased demand in the Production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair sector

• Craft and related trades workers (up 12 percent) demonstrated a slight increase in demand year-over-year, albeit at a slower pace than in previous months

• Elementary occupations (down 24 percent) continued to exhibit the lowest performance year-over-year

Geographic year-over-year Trends: Four of the nine UK regions registered annual gains in online recruitment in May.

• The Midlands (up 15 percent) continued to lead all regions by measure of annual growth, supported by increased online recruitment activity across engineering, IT and sales

• London (up three percent) reversed its negative trend and charted annual growth in online job opportunities, following last month’s decline

• For the fifth consecutive month Wales (down 15 percent) noted further reductions in online recruitment compared to a year ago

International Trends:

The Monster Employment Index Europe demonstrated year-over-year growth of six percent in May, matching the rate of annual growth recorded in April. Germany retained an annual growth of 19 percent for the second consecutive month, Netherlands continued to chart the greatest decline in online hiring activity compared to year-ago levels (down 21 percent). Environment, architecture, urbanism noted substantial growth over the year and led all industries in the Index with opportunities increasing by 23 percent; Public sector, defence community (down six percent) continued to exhibit the steepest annual decline. Craft and related trades workers remained in the greatest demand of all occupational groups year-over-year.

To obtain a full copy of the Monster Employment Index report for May 2012, and to access current individual data charts for each of the seven European markets tracked, please visit http://about-monster.com/employment/index/17. Data for the month of June will be released on July 10, 2012.

By Industry          

By Occupation

By Region

Monster Employment Index data for June 2012 will be released on July 10, 2012.

About The Monster Employment Index Europe

The Monster Employment Index Europe provides monthly insight into online job posting activity across the European Union. Launched in June 2005 with data from December 2004, the Index is based on a review of millions of employer job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards, including Monster. The Monster Employment Index’s underlying data is validated for accuracy by Research America, Inc. – an independent, third-party auditing firm – to ensure that measured national online job recruitment activity is within a margin of error of +/- 1.05%.

The Index monitors online job opportunities across all European Union member countries.

The monthly reports for Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Europe are available at: http://about-monster.com/employment/index/17.