The report, which analyses fluctuations in salaries, job vacancies and applications throughout July, August and September 2019, found that the locations which saw the biggest hikes in pay quarter-on-quarter include the North East (up 36.9%), the South West (up 32.6%) and the South East (up 28.9%).
At the same time, the locations that experienced the biggest quarterly drops in job applications include the West Midlands (down 9.4%), the East Midlands (down 9.1%) and the East of England (down 7.2%). In addition to this, applications to automotive jobs fell by 12.6%, to constructions jobs by 10.7% and to social care jobs by 8.9%.
Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, comments:
“While the increase in salaries might seem like a positive update, we know that this has been driven by a tight labour market and, in reality, employers are struggling to source the talent they need. As a result, they have no choice but to offer bigger pay packets to try and entice people out of their current roles.
“Our data suggests that while applications are up year-on-year, they have taken a dip on the quarter and this echoes recent reports from the ONS that the number of people in work fell by the largest margin in four years in August. Clearly, the lack of clarity around Brexit and the fact that we are edging closer to D-Day is weakening the UK jobs market.”
Despite less people applying for new jobs, the amount of vacancies on offer across the UK grew by 9.1% in Q3 2019. What’s more, this figure jumped up to 17.6% in the East Midlands, 16.3% in Scotland, 14.4% in Wales and 13.7% in the North West.
In addition to this, there were 13.6% more construction jobs on offer, 13.5% more social care jobs, 12.6% more manufacturing jobs and 7.1% more IT roles.
Biggins continues:
“Businesses appear to be confident in their hiring plans, suggesting that the UK labour market is still in good health. That being said, our data shows that there’s a distinct lack of talent to fill these vacancies and we expect this number to fall even further as we meet the Brexit deadline and move towards the quieter final few months of the year.
“For employers that are struggling to source top talent, it’s important to focus on your key selling points and consider what’s going to set you apart from the competition. At the same time, in order to prepare for the busiest period in the recruitment calendar – the New Year - it’s crucial that you invest in a robust hiring strategy sooner rather than later.”
About CV-Library
CV-Library is one of the UK’s largest online job sites and attracts over 4.3 million unique job seekers every month. Founded by Lee Biggins in 2000, CV-Library is the UK’s leading independent online job board with a database of over 14 million CVs.
