Job Vacancies and Employment Levels Hit Record High

Employment, Hiring, Jobsearch, News / 29 January 2018

Brexit stills seems to be having little effect on the UK employment sector, as recent statistics from the ONS show employment levels remain strong, and at a record high. Interestingly however, vacancies are also at record levels.There are currently 32.2 million workers in employment, which is the highest amount since records began. That said, this is tempered by the fact that while wages have risen by 2.4% (0.1% higher than expected), they were still under the 3.1% inflation rate. This has led to some concern from commentators that real living wages are not rising enough.

Job Vacancies and Employment Levels Hit Record High

 

Impacts and Considerations


The recent figures show that the economy continued to grow at the end of last year, but the fact that wage growth hasn’t moved in line with inflation means that consumer spending has remained low. The lack of household spending has already led to problems for some sectors reliant on regular consumer spending, like the retail and services industries. It could be the case that these trends will continue well into the coming year.

Another knock on effect of the lack of wage growth is that lower income households are finding it harder to budget for the essentials. This, along with a general slowdown in spending, could also contribute to economic slowdown in the coming months.

It’s also important to note that while wages have risen in nominal terms (when not adjusted to reflect inflation), they have actually dropped in real terms (when adjusted for inflation). According to the ONS, weekly wages actually fell by 0.5% excluding bonuses, compared to the nominal rise of 2.4% excluding bonuses.

As a result, the TUC has called for a payrise of at least £10 per hour for the minimum wage.

 

Vacancy Rises


Employment levels aren’t the only things breaking records. Vacancies are also at their highest since records began in 2001. The ONS states that there were 60,000 more new vacancies than the year before, with a rise in from July to September of around 17,000.

This unusually high vacancy rate is also a direct result of the high employment figures – companies are finding it hard to fill roles due to low levels of people looking for work. This is even more true for jobs that require especially skilled workers, with many companies already facing, or on the edge of, a skills shortage. If this continues, businesses could face problems with productivity and flexibility in the long term.

Overall then, while the amount of people in work in the face of Brexit uncertainty is certainly a positive, things might not be all smooth sailing going forward. It’s very probable that the current skills shortage faced by companies will become even more entrenched. There’s also the issue of a potential slow down in productiviy and economic growth, which could easily undo the so far strong rates of employment. Whatever the future holds, the ability of the UK’s employment sector to stay strong despite the issues caused by Brexit is certainly impressive.

People Also Read

Popular Jobs for Recruitment
Experienced Head of Driving Recruitment (360 role)
... thresholds - earn from Day 1!About AMJ Recruitment:AMJ Recruitment is an in...
Recruitment Coordinator
... their Head Office in London, working as part of their Recruitment Team to b...
Recruitment HR Officer
... personable with a ‘can-do’ attitude. HR Officer – Overview: Lead on ...
Recruitment and Training Administrator
... employees offering set opportunities to meet our clients requirements Placi...
Recruitment Advertising Manager - Portfolio covering the creative and marketing sector!
... earning potential and many other benefits and rewards. The role of Recruit...
Trainee Recruitment Administrator / Resourcer
... . Due to an increase in workload, we are now looking to recruit a permeant ...
>>