Insights
UK Labour Market Insights | October 2022
Trends across the UK
- In September, unique job postings fell by –4.5% compared to the previous month. Last month saw the biggest fall in job postings in a decade.
- Scotland had the biggest decrease during September, with a –10.9% drop compared to the previous month. While England saw a –7.5.% decrease and Wales only had a –1.1% fall compared to August.
- Looking more closely at specific sectors, Agriculture, Environmental & Animal Care saw the biggest decrease at -11.1% compared to August.
London
- During September, unique job postings in London fell by –7% compared to the previous month.
- The continued drop in job postings across Greater London has left only 65,000 borough-specific job postings. This is the lowest collective count the capital has seen in the last 12 months.
- Nearly every sector across Greater London saw a fall in job postings compared to the previous month. Health & Social Care related roles had the biggest decrease by -13.7%, followed by Transport, Logistics & Supply Chain at -12.2% and IT at -11%
- Despite the overall trend of a decrease in unique job postings, three regions stood out with increases compared to August: Newham (+7.5%), Greenwich (+6.2%) and Waltham Forest (+3.9%)
- Across the capital, there was a slight increase of listings within the Protective Services sector (+ 3.9%) compared to August.
Scotland: Tayside and Lanarkshire
- Unique job postings in Lanarkshire and Tayside decreased by –11.2% during September, compared to the previous month. This drop is significant as it means the number of unique job postings has fallen below the region’s average in the last 12 months.
- Perth and Kinross had the sector with the biggest decrease compared to August, as Construction & Labouring postings fell by -32%
- Amongst the Tayside areas, Dundee City saw the largest decrease of -15.7% compared to August. Within this area’s sectors, Health & Social saw the biggest decrease at -20.5% compared to the previous month.
- However, there were some sectors which saw growth in September. Retail in South Lanarkshire increased by 6.7% compared to August.
North West England: Cumbria, Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside
- This month, unique job postings in the West Midlands decreased by –1.9% compared to August. This was the smallest decrease among regions across England.
- The main sector where unique job postings fell was Health & Social Care. During September, listings fell by –8.3% compared to August.
- Across the West Midlands, Redditch saw the biggest decrease in job listings (-10.5%) compared to August. This was followed by Dudley, which saw a decrease of –8.3% compared to the previous month.
- However, some regions saw an increase in unique job postings during September. Sandwell saw an increase of 7.1% compared to August. This was primarily in the IT sector, with a 69.1% increase compared to the previous month.
- During September, IT-related roles in the West Midlands saw an increase of over 10% compared to the month before.
West Midlands
- The West Midlands decrease in unique job postings during August was above the national average. Postings were down by 17.4%, this was the largest month-on-month change in the region over the past year.
- During August, the greatest decrease in listings was in the agriculture, environmental, and animal care sector (-26.3%) and the lowest was in the warehousing sector (-14.2%)
- However, some regions and sectors saw a growth this month. Most noticeably, IT increased by 55.9% in Sandwell. Public Services & Administrative postings increased by 18.2% in Malvern Hills, and Wyre Forest saw an increase in warehousing by 12.5%.
Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire
- Collectively, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire had a more stable job market compared to the rest of England. During September, these regions saw a slight increase in unique job postings compared to August.
- This increase was mainly driven by the Yorkshire and Humber region, with an increase of 2.5% compared to August.
- South Yorkshire did particularly well, with an increase of 9.5% compared to August. The region more than doubled its IT-related roles and there were 5,043 IT jobs posted. To break this down further, IT-related roles in Barnsley increased by 137% (986 jobs posted) and Sheffield saw an increase of 66.4% (3,020 jobs posted).
- North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire both had a 3.5% increase in unique job postings compared to August. This growth was seen in Business, Finance & Legal, alongside Manufacturing & Production.
- Rushcliffe and Gedling – in Nottinghamshire – saw the lowest number of job postings in the county. However, both of these areas saw an –18% decrease in unique job postings compared to August.
Wales
- During September, unique job postings in Wales fell by –1.1% compared to August. This decrease was significantly smaller compared to many other regions.
- This small change in postings was helped by the large increase of unique job postings in Cardiff. During September, they increased by 11.6% compared to August. The most notable sector was IT (+64%), followed by Sales & Marketing (+27.7%) and Science & Engineering (+18%)
- Other regions and sectors across Wales also saw increases in unique job postings. Most significantly was an increase of 34.5% – compared to August – in IT-related roles in Powys.
- Education and Training unique job postings increased by 37% in Conwy, compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, in Monmouthshire Manufacturing & Production postings increased by 20.6% compared to August.
- However, other regions across Wales saw large decreases in unique job postings. Most notable was in Rhondda Cynon Taf, which saw postings fall by –11.8% compared to the previous month.
Surrey, Sussex & Hampshire
- In September, unique job postings decreased across the Southern regions by -6.1% compared to the previous month. The continued decrease has taken these regions below the average unique job postings count.
- The biggest decrease of unique job postings was in Worthing with a –14.1% drop. Within this region, the two sectors that saw the largest impact were Health & Social Care ( -21.7%) and Business, Finance & Legal (-15.5%) compared to August.
- However, there were some areas of growth within the Southern regions. Redhill saw an increase of 0.3% compared to August. Although this is a small amount, some sectors in Redhill saw a significant increase. Business, Finance & Legal (+8.9%) and Retail (+15.4%) compared to August.
- Other regions and sectors saw an increase in unique job postings during September, too. Science & Engineering increased by 40.5% in Weybridge, compared to August. In Worthing, Sales and Marketing postings increased by 18.9% compared to the previous month. Public Services & Administrative increased by 12.5% in Horsham compared to August.
There are lots of actions you can take to make your business stand out within the job market, and we’ve got a range of services that can help you do this. Our Access to Work Mental Health Support Service is a useful tool to use in the current job market.
You could also utilise our recruitment service, which have helped over 500 businesses, including Tesco and Zizzi, to help you find the perfect candidate.
Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business.
