Yahoo Finance Coronavirus: UK job market is one of the worst hit worldwide
The UK job market is one of the worst hit worldwide by the coronavirus pandemic.
UK job vacancies have taken a 42% nosedive in the last eight weeks, according to the research by job search engine Adzuna.co.uk.
The US is the second biggest casualty in the job market with advertised vacancies plummeting by 38%.
Russia has the third most affected workforce Russia, with vacancies falling 32% as the country continues in strict lockdown.
New Zealand is also among the worst affected, losing 27% of job vacancies across the country.
In the UK, vacancies in hospitality, energy, and administration have plunged to their lowest levels in over eight years.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “The economy has been hugely impacted by the measures to control the spread of the virus in recent weeks. The UK has lost a staggering 42% of vacancies over an eight week period.
“This is another blow for the UK, which is predicted to see unemployment sour by more than 2 million and the economy shrink by 35% according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.”
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Hospitality and catering recruitment has taken the biggest hit with a 74% reduction in vacancies, as restaurants and hospitality venues have been closed in the coronavirus lockdown. This figure shows an 8% decrease in the last week alone as lockdown continues into its fourth week, with no sign of restrictions being lifted soon.
The energy industry has also been hit hard with vacancies down 66%, admin roles have fallen by 63%, and HR and recruitment vacancies have fallen 61%.
The travel industry has also been heavily impacted, with vacancies falling 61% as people stay at home to maintain social distancing in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Jobs in travel across the world also saw some of the highest decreases in vacancies over the last eight weeks, with jobs falling 42%, as many airlines have grounded flights as nations across the world closed their borders and discouraged travel. Although not the highest percentage overall, jobs in travel have seen the biggest overall decline globally since last week, down 27%.
Globally, the hospitality and catering industry has seen the highest fall in job vacancies, down 49% — a 15% decrease in the last week.
Logistics and warehouse roles have been heavily impacted around the world, falling 38%. Manufacturing jobs have also seen a continuous decline, falling 31% in the last eight weeks ago — a further 24% decrease from last week.
However, the UK has seen an increase in vacancies for domestic help and cleaning jobs as these are up 20% in the UK, compared to globally where these roles have fallen by 12%.
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“We are continuing to see vacancies in the hospitality industry decline and it’s no surprise, with the lockdown measures set to still be in place for the foreseeable future, that this figure will continue to decrease,” said Hunter.
“Interestingly the UK reduction in hospitality vacancies is significantly higher than we are seeing in neighbouring countries, however, this is reflective of the different phases of the pandemic each country is in at this time and we anticipate other countries will see a similar impact.
“Although the vacancy figures are on a steady decline, we are confident that the UK job market will bounce back from this once we have passed the peak of the pandemic, but we can expect to see this downward trend continue over the next few weeks.”
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