Yahoo Finance UK salaries skyrocket as employers struggle to fill vacancies
Average salaries across UK have risen significantly in the last year as employers struggle to find the right candidates for their vacancies, according to statistics released on Wednesday.
Analysis by job site CV-Library suggests salaries across the country are up, with strong pay growth in large cities including Liverpool, which had a spike of 12%, Edinburgh (11.5%) Leeds (7.22%), Cardiff (6.61%) and Birmingham (4.3%).
Vacancies rose by a steady 4% last month, but this was almost equally matched by a 3.4% decline in candidate applications, CV-Library’s figures suggest. What’s more, some of the main industries requiring the skills of EU workers are noticing the effects of Brexit uncertainty already, with job applications falling by 15.3% in hospitality, 7.5% in driving jobs and 9.8% in recruitment.
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Vacancies increased by 16,000 to a record high of 870,000 in February, despite employment being at its highest since records began in 1971.
Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, said: “It’s not surprising professionals are showing more caution about applying for jobs right now. With the outcome of Brexit still not confirmed, Brits want to stay safe in the knowledge that their current employer will protect them, no matter the result of the Brexit deal. And, while this can help many employers with their retention efforts, this does pose an issue for companies recruiting for new positions.
“Employers are currently under immense pressure to rethink their hiring strategies, which could be why we’ve seen an increase in salaries across the board. From our data, we can see northern cities like Liverpool and Leeds are desperate to attract more candidates with higher salaries. This could be attributed to the fact that manufacturing is one of their prime industries and this is a sector facing severe skills shortages right now.”
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Looking at the bigger picture, the findings appear to suggest the UK job market has remained largely resilient despite the significant economic risks associated with Brexit. Overall, the amount of candidates registering their CV on CV-Library was up by 5.6% year-on-year. What’s more, certain industries which should seemingly be vulnerable actually saw an increase in application numbers. These sectors include construction (up 13.1%), engineering (up 5.9%) and tourism (up 0.9%).
Biggins added: “It’s certainly encouraging to note that key sectors have managed to stay relatively stable. What’s more, while it’s too early to be certain, it appears that Brexit hasn’t yet felt the devastating effects that have been speculated about.
“According to the Office for National Statistics, despite EU net migration being at its lowest in 10 years, net migration from outside the UK is the highest it has been since 2004, bringing a fresh source of talent to UK employers.”
