Online vacancies decline to pre-pandemic levels, with HR and recruitment seeing largest decrease

In the latest signal that competition for workers is cooling, online vacancies fell by 3% in the week to 6 January 2023 compared with the previous week, according to figures compiled by job search website Adzuna and published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The data, in the week to 6 January 2023, showed falls in 20 of the 28 job categories and 11 of the 12 UK countries and English regions.

The “HR and recruitment” job category saw the largest decrease and fell by 19%, followed by the “energy, oil and gas” job category, which fell by 7%.

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Of the 12 UK countries and English regions, the largest falls were seen in the East Midlands, London and the North East, which all fell by 5%. The only region to show an increase was Northern Ireland, which was up by 3%.

The total number of online job adverts was also 16% lower than the level seen in the equivalent period of 2022, with manufacturing showing the largest change, at 44% below the level of the equivalent period of last year.

The figures are the latest sign that the labour market may have turned after job vacancies reached a record high last spring.

But the ONS notes that job advert numbers in early January historically show a strong seasonal effect, and should be viewed cautiously when making comparisons to other periods in the year. 

A study earlier this week showed that vacancies rose by the slowest pace since February 2021 as companies slow down on recruiting to cut back on costs amid economic uncertainty.

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The latest report on jobs by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which surveyed 400 recruiters in December, showed the number of vacancies fell slightly in December to 53.0, down from 54.1 in November. 

The number of staff hired for permanent roles fell for the third consecutive month in December 2022, as companies moved to minimise commitments as a recession looms. Demand for temporary roles rose, though the rate of growth was still modest.

The report did note that demand for permanent placement always declines in December.

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