Labour shortages spark record 1.90m job adverts

A new record high has been hit, as active job adverts in the UK reached 1.90m in the week of 13 to 19 September.

As part of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s latest Jobs Recovery Tracker, it was revealed that there were around 223,000 new job adverts posted in the same week, the second highest weekly figure since data collection began.

This growth was witnessed across the entire UK, with every upper tier local authority in the country seeing a rise in active job postings in the week.

These latest figures suggest that the current labour shortage issues are continuing to mount up, as a demand for staff increases.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, echoed this: “Job postings are rising in every area of the UK. That’s good news, and we are seeing more employees starting new positions than ever – but demand from employers is even higher still. There is a real chance now that shortages of available workers will slow the recovery.”

In order to combat this, he stated that government departments must come together with industry experts to solve the shortage crisis “with pragmatic and practical steps”.

He explained: “But politicians and businesses must also do their part individually – government by addressing training at lower skill levels and allowing more flexibility in the immigration system; and companies by improving workforce planning and focusing on improved conditions and facilities as ways to attract and retain staff, not just pay.”

Where jobs are booming

The data from the REC found that Scotland saw the largest increase in active job postings last week.

Meanwhile, Thurrock (+1.3%), North and North East Lincolnshire (+1.5%), and Isle of Wight (+1.5%) were the areas that recorded a marginal increase in active job postings compared to the rest of the UK.

As students returned to classrooms, education roles started to boom, with support roles such as school secretaries seeing a +17.6% increase. Other positions such as school midday and crossing patrol occupations, educational support assistants and caretakers also grew, with figures reaching +16.4%, +9.8% and +9.6%, respectively.

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