In its latest candidate survey, the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, surveyed over 1,500 professionals in an effort to ascertain how the global pandemic has impacted the job-hunting process of the UK workforce.
Amongst other key findings, the survey revealed that only 48.3% of women feel confident that they’ll be able to find a job during the pandemic, compared to a whopping 60% of men. The results also highlight that only 44.7% of workers aged between 18 to 24 felt confident in their ability to secure a new role, making them the least confident age group.
What’s more, respondents named the following issues as the main concerns facing job seekers:
- Increased competition for roles (67.4%)
- Not enough available jobs (41.5%)
- Won’t find a high enough salary (30.7%)
- Lack of flexible working opportunities (21.9%)
- Lack of necessary skills (21.8%)
Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library comments: “Women are a pivotal part of the UK economy and it’s unacceptable that so many female professionals are concerned about finding a new role during this difficult time. It’s absolutely vital that employers and hiring managers work toward addressing this inequality as the country begins to re-open in the coming months. If not, they might find their workforce, and bottom line, could seriously suffer as a result.”
In addition, the study went on to reveal that 40% of professionals feel their priorities have changed since the onset of COVID-19. In fact, the results find that access to flexible working is now more important than the type of work that professionals do.
Biggins continues: “The pandemic has forced many of us to take stock of what’s important. If businesses want to retain and attract the best talent, it’s essential that they pay attention to this shift and work to offer their staff what they really need. After all, having a happy and loyal workforce will be instrumental to the long-term recovery of every company, post-COVID-19.”
