Competition for jobs in the UK is at an all-time low, as advertised salaries hit 7-year high.
- Competition for jobs in the UK falls to record low, at nearly 4 vacancies per jobseeker.
- Average advertised salaries at a 7-year high
- South West showing 8.9% year-on-year wage increase
- Wales seeing a 2.0% year-on-year decline
Competition for jobs has hit a record low, decreasing to nearly 4 vacancies per jobseeker across the UK, whilst advertised salaries have reached a seven-year peak, according to new research by Adzuna.
Vacancies rise as competition falls
The latest UK Job Market Report from job search engine, Adzuna, has revealed a decline in jobseekers per vacancy, falling from 0.30 in January to 0.26 jobseekers per vacancy in February 2019. As competition falls to nearly four people per vacancy, jobseekers are now in the best position to find a job since Adzuna started recording this data in 2012.
Monthly changes in vacancies between January and February have also seen a 3.5% (46,000 vacancies) growth, from 1,020,629 vacancies to 1,056,841 vacancies respectively, in spite of a 4.3% decline since February 2018. Despite the general downward trend in vacancies year-on-year, the latest ONS data reveals the highest employment rate since 1971, reaching a figure of 76.1%.
With the uncertainty of Brexit looming over our heads, the correlation between job vacancies and high employment rate may be resulting from job migration stagnation, as people are less likely to change jobs or position at the risk of instability.
Overall competition to find a job is at the lowest since Adzuna began recording vacancy data. The best places to find a job are Cambridge and Oxford, with 0.04 and 0.05 jobseekers per vacancy, respectively. On the contrary, Hull and Sunderland remain the most difficult cities to find a job, at 2.73 and 2.14 jobseekers per vacancy.
Salaries hitting 4.2% year-on-year increase
Average advertised salary in the UK has followed an upward trend, increasing by 1.0% between January and February, working towards an overall 4.2% increase year-on-year – the highest level shown in the last 7 years.
Alongside the decrease in jobseekers per vacancy, UK advertised salaries have followed an upward trend, climbing to £35,058 in February 2019, showing a 4.2% year-on-year increase – the highest level shown in the last 7 years. With the UK inflation rate at 2.1% according to the latest ONS data, advertised wages are at a 2.1% year-on-year increase after inflation, resulting in an additional £706 to salary annually.
The resulting growth in salaries may be occurring due to a lack of jobseekers filling the advertised roles. Employers are potentially increasing salaries to compete for talent, particularly with the number of job vacancies increasing to four vacancies per jobseeker.
South West England are experiencing the highest salary increase across the UK, with a year-on-year growth of 8.9%, to £33,319. However, despite the overall 4.2% increase in average UK salary, Wales has seen a 2.0% decline in salary year-on-year to £31,450.
Unsurprisingly, London still holds the highest average salary at £42,841, showing a 5.4% increase over the last 12 months. North East England rank third highest in terms of year-on-year salary change, with a 4.5% increase since February 2018.
Teaching tops the list for highest year-on-year salary growth
Per sector, Teaching jobs display the highest year-on-year salary change, with a 13.3% increase over the last year to £30,890. This is shortly followed by Domestic help and Cleaning jobs, where salaries have climbed to a 9.4% growth over the last year.
On the other hand, Energy, Oil and Gas jobs have decreased 3.8% over the last year with regards to salary, to an average of £39,090. The retail sector follows shortly after with a decline in average salary of 3.0% to £26,765 yearly.
With competition for jobs falling to four vacancies per jobseeker, and salaries reaching record highs since 2012, there is no better time for those looking to find a job in the UK than in the early Spring months.
