A study by independent job site, CV-Library, reveals an increase in jobs, salaries and candidate applications in August 2016, suggested a healthy labour market.
The job site compares data from August 2016 with August 2015 and finds that jobs are up by a surprising 21.8 per cent last month, suggesting that employers showed no sign of slowing down hiring activity throughout the summer months.
While this is good news for the nation as a whole, key regions and sectors celebrated standout job growth, with the top five including:
Wales, with 30.9 per cent growth, East Midlands (25.3 per cent), the South East (23 per cent) and Scotland (22.8 per cent).
Sectors enjoying the largest growth rates are automotive (43.2 per cent), manufacturing (36.5 per cent) and marketing (31.8 per cent).
According to the data, candidate applications also rose by 5 per cent compared with the previous year, suggesting that job hunter appetite during this period was also rife.
A resilient labour market
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library says, ‘It’s extremely positive to see that the UK’s labour market did not fall victim to the typical ‘summer slowdown’ this year, especially given that there is still a great amount of uncertainty around the impact of the Brexit on UK jobs.
‘Our data tells us that certain regions, and industries, are thriving and it’s clear that employers within these areas have recognised the need to tap into candidates who might have used time-off during the summer months to think about, and look for, new opportunities.’
Alongside this, the data reveals that salaries rose by 4.7 per cent in August, with certain cities and sectors in the UK witnessing above-average increases. These included Hull, with a 21.3 per cent increase, Exeter (20.4 per cent) and Inverness (9.2 per cent).
Biggins says that the fact that salaries are up is simply testament to UK businesses’ determination to keep the economy moving post-Brexit, while also recognising the need to attract candidates with competitive salaries.
‘Despite ongoing uncertainty, it’s clear that the UK’s labour market is continuing to thrive and businesses and candidates alike should be confident in the fact that salaries are increasing, the job market is growing, and application rates are remaining strong.’
Cash flow solutions company DueCourse is putting a great deal of effort and planning into recruitment regardless of the EU referendum result.
CEO Paul Haydock has just hired a former Apple engineer, who joins the company as a new technical architect.
‘For us, the people we hire are very much part of a grand plan, rather than reactions to needing a little help here-and-there,’ Haydock adds.
‘We feel that a reactive approach (hiring sporadically as and when you need resources) is an unstable and unsuitable mentality for small businesses; it can dilute your company culture and also land you in trouble if you make a snap decision and maybe hire someone who isn’t quite right for the role.’
Haydock and DueCourse talent director Michael Hall sat down and created a product roadmap for the company for the next 12-18 months, looking at what they wanted to achieve, how the business is going to be performing from a sales, technology and service perspective and what the potential pitfalls might be which could stop them delivering against targets.
‘We built our hiring strategy into this grand-scale plan, working out where and when we see ourselves needing an injection of new skills and giving ourselves plenty of time to find the very best people for the job,’ he says.
Further reading on hiring staff
