Getting Britain Working: Half a Million Jobs are on offer right now in the UK. These are the Cities and Sectors on hiring drives

• 535,500 advertised jobs on offer in UK, up from low of 350,700 seen in mid-May
• Cambridge and Guildford have more jobs than jobseekers, despite Covid-19
• The South West is one of the best regions to look for work, with low competition for jobs in both Exeter and Taunton
• Thousands of jobs on offer in the Midlands, with Birmingham, Dudley and Nottingham three of the top 10 hiring cities
• Bucking the trend, Logistics Warehouse (+24%) and Domestic Help & Cleaning (+8%) sectors have seen job numbers increase since Covid-19

Techies in Cambridge are the most in-demand workers in the UK, with Cambridge the best city to find a job and Tech the top hiring local sector, according to new research from job search engine Adzuna. 

There are currently 535,500 job openings across the UK, up 53% from the low of 350,700 seen mid-May, as slowly but surely employers start hiring again. (Vacancy levels remain 40% below average counts before the pandemic, defined as the first seven weeks of 2020).

Despite a nationwide plunge in hiring, job openings still outnumber jobseekers in two UK cities, Cambridge and Guildford. Competition for jobs sits at just 0.7 jobseekers per vacancy in Cambridge, meaning there are almost two open positions for each jobseeker. Guildford follows close behind, with a ratio of 0.9 jobseekers to vacancies. IT is the top hiring sector in both these cities, with Cambridge nicknamed ‘Silicon Fen’ due to the growing cluster of tech companies based there and Guildford an emerging ‘digital suburb’ within a stone’s throw of the capital.

Winchester comes in third position, with supply and demand matching up and a competition for jobs ratio of one person job hunting for every job available. Healthcare & Nursing is the hottest hiring local sector.

Outside of the home counties, The South West is holding up particularly well to pandemic pressures. Hubs Exeter and Taunton both feature in the easiest 10 cities to find a job list, making the South West one of the best regions to look for work in the UK.

Overall, the 10 best towns and cities to find a job all have fewer than three jobseekers competing for each role, compared to more than 40 jobseekers vying for every job in the most competitive areas of the country. Workers in Northern Ireland are having some of the hardest time finding work, with job openings in cities like Derry, Antrim and Lisburn few and far between and almost 60 jobseekers competing for each opening.

In terms of total vacancy volume, London is home to the most job openings with 42,700 job vacancies currently advertised on Adzuna, but more than 5 jobseekers going after each role.  Manchester and Bristol are the second and third top hiring cities, hosting 14,500 and 10,100 jobs respectively and competition for jobs rates of 3.1 and 3.6.

The Midlands is thriving as a hiring powerhouse, with Birmingham (7,600 job ads), Dudley (6,600)  and Nottingham (4,800) all featuring in the top 10 hiring cities. Of these hiring hotspots, advertised salaries are highest in Birmingham, averaging £37,683, suggesting this is a good location to focus on for Midlanders looking for top dollar.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, comments: “The global pandemic stifled UK hiring levels, but confidence is starting to return and job opportunities are slowly but surely improving. But the recovery is patchy and some sectors and cities are richer job hunting grounds than others. If you work in Tech in Cambridge or Guildford, you’re one of the lucky ones, with more jobs on offer than there are people to fill them. The wider trend is of skills shortage industries faring better through the crisis, with hiring still going strong in sectors like IT, Trade & Construction and Engineering. Jobseekers outside of these industries are having a harder time and may wish to target their search in areas with less competition for jobs. For example, London continues to have lots of opportunities, but many thousands of people fighting for them. The South West and the Midlands could offer better options for those seeking work.”

Table 1: The best places to find a job in the UK

Table 2: The worst places to find a job

Table 3: The hottest hiring UK cities

Logistics & Warehouse Jobs spike since Covid-19 pandemic

Two sectors have beaten the odds and increased hiring since the pandemic. There are currently 43,200 advertised Logistics & Warehouse positions, making it the fourth biggest hiring sector in the UK, and hiring volumes have grown significantly since the start of the year with job ads up 24% compared to before Covid-19.

The Domestic Help & Cleaning sector has also been on a hiring drive since the pandemic, with 8,800 job openings currently on offer, 8% higher than at the start of the year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Healthcare & Nursing is the sector currently hiring the most, with 74,800 job openings currently on offer across the country.

The IT industry is also going great guns, with 57,400 job vacancies available, paying a healthy average salary of £52,373.

Table 3: The hottest hiring sectors in the UK - resilience since Covid-19

Table 4: The hottest hiring sectors in the UK - total vacancies