It’s clear that businesses across the UK are working hard to attract talented candidates to their roles, with some of the nation’s key cities witnessing above-average hikes in pay last month. That’s according to the latest data from CV-Library, the UK’s leading independent job site.
The data explored fluctuations in salaries, jobs and applications throughout April and compared these with statistics from the same period in 2017. The nation as a whole saw salaries rising by 2% year-on-year, but key cities across the UK saw an even bigger jump in pay packets last month. The top cities for salary growth include:
- Glasgow – Salaries rose by 13.9%
- Brighton – Salaries rose by 12.3%
- Cardiff – Salaries rose by 9.6%
- Liverpool – Salaries rose by 5.5%
- Nottingham – Salaries rose by 5.4%
- Southampton – Salaries rose by 4%
- Portsmouth – Salaries rose by 3.7%
- London – Salaries rose by 2.5%
- Manchester – Salaries rose by 2.1%
- Hull – Salaries rose by 1.6%
What’s more, some of the nation’s key industries also witnessed impressive salary growth when comparing data from April 2018, with that of April 2017. The biggest increases were seen in the legal (11.3%), IT (7.2%), care (7.2%), marketing (4.4%) and sales (4.3%) industries.
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library, comments: “It’s great to see that employers are remaining positive in the face of ongoing uncertainty and are continuing to invest in their recruitment efforts. What’s more, the increase in pay packets has come at the right time for many, with the latest ONS figures revealing that wages outpaced inflation for the first time in almost a year. And with salaries rising across many of the nation’s key cities and sectors, the data suggests that the competition to secure the top talent isn’t letting up any time soon!”
Furthermore, job vacancies were also up last month, increasing by a staggering 16.5% year-on-year. That said, candidate appetite did not keep pace, with application rates dropping by 8.2% when compared with data from April 2017.
Biggins concludes: “Last month’s ONS employment figures also revealed that unemployment rates had dropped once again. This, coupled with the decrease in application rates, suggests that professionals are not feeling confident enough to move around the job market right now. If businesses hope to entice candidates out of their current roles, they must continue to offer the most competitive packages they can.”
