reed.co.uk’s monthly Job Market Review gives recruiters and businesses fresh insights into what happened in the jobs market in the last month – including candidate insights and regional and sector performance.
April 2021 Snapshot
- Vacancies saw a big year-on-year growth across almost all sectors
- A big recruitment drive in Hospitality & Catering with vacancies up 91% month-on-month
- Over 2 million applications were made on reed.co.uk in April; up 23% year-on-year
April sees vacancies on reed.co.uk grow 187% year-on-year
Nearly 222,000 jobs were posted on reed.co.uk in April, marking a strong bounceback for the jobs market when compared to the same time last year: over 144,000 more vacancies were posted compared to when the first national lockdown began in April 2020.
April marked signs of resurgence in multiple sectors, with month-on-month growth for vacancies in Transport & Logistics (+28%), Sales (+10%) and Administration (+5%). This was in line with our expectation of businesses preparing to increase capacity after months of suppressed economic activity.
Big recruitment drive in April for Hospitality & Catering as retail and outdoor restrictions eased
The number of roles advertised within Hospitality & Catering during April increased by 91% compared to March 2021. As we predicted in March’s Job Market Review, many businesses (non-essential retail stores, salons, gym and leisure facilities, pubs and restaurants with outdoor services) ramped up hiring efforts in anticipation of lockdown restrictions being eased on 12th April. And this ease was a welcome to jobseekers too – candidate applications for roles within Hospitality & Catering during April grew 4% month-on-month. This easing of lockdown measures meant that vacancies in Hospitality & Catering were a staggering 421% higher than during April 2020 – the UK’s first full month of lockdown. Demonstrating the devastating impact of lockdown on this industry.
Jobseeker optimism evident with applications up 23% year-on-year
Similarly to the annual increase for vacancies, jobseeker demand saw a resurgence in April 2021 with over 2 million applications made on reed.co.uk, compared to the 1.65 million received during the same time in 2020.
The biggest growth was seen in Sales with +57% year-on-year growth. Other signs of renewed jobseeker optimism were evident in Legal (+52%), HR (+43%), Financial Services (+37%), Administration (+36%), Education (+27%) and IT (+26%).
What we expect to see in May
As the UK nears the final stage of its ‘unlocking’, industries that currently remain locked down – such as travel, tourism and entertainment – will be preparing their workforces in anticipation of business resuming. We can expect to see a continued increase in hiring in these sectors.
While late spring into summer is not traditionally the busiest period for jobseekers, the prospect of lockdown ending, combined with businesses rolling out their ‘return to the office’ plans, may be a spur for jobseekers to step up their search for their next role. Therefore, we expect candidate registrations and applications to buck traditional seasonal trends and remain steady over the coming months.
