Coronavirus: Job postings remain a quarter lower than last year

Job postings showed some signs of recovery but this may be short lived due to second national lockdown. Credit: Getty.

Job postings have dropped by 25.9% year-on-year according to new industry data.

But figures are still growing 9.7% month-on-month as the UK saw some recovery in October.

The latest statistics from job board CV-Library are based on postings in October 2020 compared with the previous year.

In September job adverts hit a three-week high, nearing pre-pandemic levels.

As the UK enters a second national lockdown, gains in month-on-month growth are likely to be short lived.

“In different circumstances, this data would be more positive. After all, it suggests that the UK job market is finally starting to recover after the first lockdown in March,” said Lee Biggins, CEO of CV-Library.

“However, as we enter a second national lockdown, this data highlights that the UK economy is in a much more fragile position than we were in March. Ultimately, this is likely to spell bad news for job seekers.”

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Cities with the largest fall in job postings year-on-year include:

Aberdeen (down 49.7%)

Southampton (down 40%)

Portsmouth (down 38.3%)

London (down 38.3%)

Glasgow (down 33.6%)

Manchester (down 33%)

Brighton (down 31.9%)

Edinburgh (down 30.2%)

Leeds (down 29.6%)

Nottingham (down 27.6%)

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The findings also show job applications have dropped by 6.2% month-on-month and 1.6% year-on-year.

And while the ratio of applications per vacancy dropped by 14.5% in October, it still remains 32.9% higher than during the same period last year.

Biggins said: “As a candidate, this drop in applications should mean less competition for top jobs. Although in reality, it’s likely that many businesses will put their hiring plans on hold during this second lockdown. As such, there will be fewer roles available, once again leading to increased levels of competition between job seekers.”

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