The United Kingdom is in a situation it has never experienced before; demand for employees has outstripped the figures for the number of people looking for work. So there are more job vacancies than unemployed people in the UK for the first time since records began which is great news for job seekers and career changers.
Job openings rose to a new high of 1.3 million in April and the number of unemployed fell to its lowest since 2004. But while the increase in job openings is welcome news for those actively seeking work and not particularly good news for employers.
These are unprecedented times, Brexit, Covid-19 and now the conflict in Ukraine have all had an effect on the job market.
Brexit removed the possibility of the free movement of workers from European countries, Covid changed the landscape in many ways including a whopping half a million people disengaging from the workforce and causing many migrant workers to return to their homelands due to lack of work here. Now we have Russia’s military activities and the resulting sanctions creating an energy and food crisis. All of these factors and more are pulling in different directions and creating an economic climate that is difficult to gauge.
Economic indicators are pointing in different directions, inflation, interest rates and cost of living are all rising whereas unemployment is historically very low, wages are rising and the housing market still shows signs of buoyancy.
Skills Gap
When the United Kingdom pulled out of the European Union, coupled with the effects of Covid and other factors, it left us with a shortfall of workers in many industries that has only been getting more acute as time goes on and the country reopened after lockdown.
As with all economic upheaval, this created a positive environment for some people and a negative one for others and will continue to do so for some time to come. If you are a skilled worker in a sector that is experiencing a shortfall, this couldn’t be better news, you are now in demand so employers potentially need you more than you need them. Wages are on the up and that is even filtering through to industries that have fewer worker supply issues.
Employers on the other hand have an uphill battle to either keep their existing staff or attract any new ones.
As with all times of change, there will be winners and there will be losers. Here at Brellis Recruitment we will guide you through the best way to navigate the problem whether you are an employee or an employer.