Unsurprisingly following the impact of Covid-19 on businesses across the country there has been a sharp rise in the number of redundancies in the UK labour market this Autumn. In a rate spike not seen since the global economic crash in 2009 there has been 5.6 people per 1000 employees been made redundant by their employers in the last month according to The Office for National Statistics. (1)
The initial furlough scheme launched by central government finishes at the end of this month, thus providing less financial support to both employers and employees nationally. It is likely that a lot of management ‘restructuring’ will result in thousands more job losses as we head into the final quarter of 2020.
This August the Office for National Statistics figures show that “the number of employees in the UK on payrolls was down around 695,000 compared with March 2020.” (2) However there is some good news as “Vacancies continued to show increases in the latest period, driven by the smaller businesses, some of which are reporting taking on additional staff to meet coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines.”
Some UK leisure companies are benefiting from the quarantine regulations on going abroad due to the pandemic boosting Families choosing local getaways instead. Recruitment specialists Reed recommend Center Parcs who currently have 35 positions advertised on their website and Linked In are advertising more than 200 jobs that are going now at Bourne Leisure.
The most positions available at the moment is the National Health Service who currently have more than 14 thousand vacancies. In addition there are other trusts who have more than 1000 roles each that can be applied for today. Private healthcare providers such as the Nuffield Trust and Bupa also have more than a hundred new jobs each.
Tescos announced 16000 jobs were being created last week and there are more than 1700 on the Linked In website currently. Most of the big food supermarkets are inviting applications at the moment as restaurant and pub diners head for their big local stores instead.
Next have shown to be doing better than market expectations during the pandemic with their online offering appealing to customers at home and the retailer has made more than 1000 fresh posts possible. Specsavers are also looking out for 975 people to join their successful opticians across the country.
If accounting work can help your income situation then EY which is Ernst & Young’s parent company have 251 open roles.
The news today was all about Queen Elizabeth’s aircraft carrier in the channel now full of aircraft and sailing off from Solent waters. The coast is clear at the Ministry of Defence which has more than 200 jobs advertised this week.
Focusing on fighting germs and minimising virus infection rates means that there are more jobs than ever in facilities management too. Sodexo has 320 roles for example.
Boosted by government building programs in the public sector and a still buoyant housing market, the construction and civil engineering industries are in demand for workers of all levels. There are 278 places at Balfour Beatty this week.
Despite Brexit on the horizon adding to this years challenges for the UK financial services industry Citi bank has 343 open positions available.
Sectors that support the transition to home delivery and internet services are doing particularly well as citizens stay at home and search and order their goods and services online. Amazon needs 768 people to fill their vacancies for example. DHL, Royal Mail and other logistics companies are also recruiting to meet demand for doorstep deliveries. Similarly there are hundreds of telecommunications jobs in companies like Vodaphone this month.
Consulting with recruitment agencies in your chosen field and following the news on which businesses have seen financial growth this year, even with all the lockdowns and closures, will give you the key information needed about where to send your Curriculum Vitae. A smart strategy may be a move over to public sector employment as healthcare and public funded projects are a safe bet with offering consistent work for the next few years in the United Kingdom, where a great deal more uncertainty has been forecast by the economists.
(1) ‘LFS: ILO redundancy rate: UK: All: SA’ The Office for National Statistics,15 September 2020 LFS: ILO redundancy rate: UK: All: Office for National Statistics
(2) ‘Labour market overview, UK: September 2020’ The Office for National Statistics, 30 September 2020 ‘Labour Market Overview’ September 2020 The Office for National Statistics
(3) ‘Center Parcs Jobs’ Reed UK 5 October 2020 ‘Center Parcs Jobs’ Reed UK October 2020
(4) ‘Here’s who’s hiring in the UK’ 2 October 2020 ‘Here’s who’s hiring in the UK’ October 2020