Some thoughts, and facts, on the current labour market…

Posted 15th Sep 2021

It will probably come as no surprise to you that the employment and hiring marketplace is currently facing certain challenges. Notably, staff shortages in many sectors, hospitality and HGV driving to name just two, and the difficulty being faced by some employers in finding suitable staff to allow their service levels to return to the desired level, let alone beyond. Yes, there are lots of job vacancies out there right now and, with furlough ending, potentially an increase in unemployment, but the former doesn't necessarily remedy the latter, though that's a topic for another day.

Not so long ago though of course the challenges were somewhat different. During the height of the pandemic, almost 30% of the UK's employed workforce were being furloughed at one stage and employers were essentially able to move staff to and from furlough status to react favourably to a change in demand. Thanks to the rapid national vaccine deployment and subsequent easing of restrictions though, the landscape has obviously changed considerably in recent months and reportedly around only 5% of employed individuals remained on furlough by the close of Q2 this year.

Though far from all, many businesses recently started to return to some form of near normality and look to the future, with even a subsequent focus on growth and recruitment returning to the fore. However, with suitably skilled, or more to the point available, potential employees seemingly thin on the ground in many disciplines, employers are seeking not only to retain staff as before, but to now look at upskilling and cross functionality as well where possible.

Inevitably, pay is also having to increase somewhat within those sectors that are particularly struggling to recruit...again with the hospitality and commercial delivery sectors standing out as firm examples. Elsewhere, it's reported that over three quarters of employers’ plan to review pay and benefits during the next 12 months, with a third of those looking to increase what they offer.

Let's not forget the ever-present topic of home and remote working either. With an increase in taxes imminent, it's reported that nearly 75% of the UK workforce (those that that can / could work from home) would seriously think about leaving their job if a remote / home working pay cut was suggested or even enforced. Some though have indicated agreement, but ONLY if moving to a full-time home working arrangement

Right now, in a nutshell, lots of job opportunities (interestingly, the southwest of England has seen the biggest recent rise in recently advertised job vacancy numbers, up almost 40% in some areas), but some real challenges in finding suitable individuals to undertake them. Advertised job applications are in fact currently down some 25% year on year, with the average number of applications per vacancy down to 7. While working hard to retain key personnel where possible, as well as upskilling and cross functionality, or even re-deployment, employers now need to plan sooner, rather than later, when it comes to their forecasted recruitment needs and perhaps work in partnership with their recruiter(s) of choice to try and build relevant talent pools in advance.

So, competition is high right now for many employers attempting to recruit and so the ability, and indeed willingness, to move quickly once having identified a desired new team member is now more important than ever. it's also well worth giving much thought as to WHY someone would want to work for you?...yes, the salary and package are most certainly major factors, for some the only factors, but increasingly many want to know much more...what is the office culture or day to day working environment really like?, what will working for you, and with you and your wider team, really be like as an experience and how will it likely make them feel?, how do you monitor and support professional and personal wellbeing?...the list goes on. The point is that it's now often about so much more than the location, job, and salary and while the afore mentioned questions may not be easy to answer readily, with reflection and research via engagement with their existing workforce, hirers will be in a stronger place when it comes to ultimately securing the services of the people they want on board.

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels