Umbrella Exchange Blog

Who’s hiring in the UK?

Written by Umbrella Exchange | Jul 8, 2020 2:20:01 PM

 

According to new data from LinkedIn the UK labour market is showing some promising signs of recovery. Around a month ago, the hiring rate was down 49% when compared with the same time last year. However, during the last two weeks of June this has climbed to 31%. While unemployment is certainly set to increase, it’s expected that hiring will keep improving as lockdown measures continue to lift. At industry level, the data shows that most UK industries have improved from the deep declines seen a few weeks ago at the height of the pandemic. For a closer look at which sectors are hiring, you can read our article here, or scroll down for the latest LinkedIn job vacancies.

  • Legal, Software & IT Services and Corporate Services have seen the strongest rebound in hiring. These industries are now trending at -16/17% year-over-year. 
  • Media & Communications (-38%), Construction (-38%), Manufacturing (-41%) and Recreation & Travel (-66%) showed some signs of improvement.

However, the latest figures show that the rate of recovery is uneven across sectors. Hiring within Highstreet Retail and Entertainment, in particular, remains very negatively impacted. UK retailers have experienced huge turbulence during the pandemic, especially those that lacked digital capabilities or weren’t able to adapt their business models during lockdown. Separate research also suggests that consumers might be feeling anxious about returning to stores to shop, with more than half of UK customers saying they will go shopping less.

  • Despite the easing of lockdown restrictions, hiring in Retail (-34%) and Entertainment (-51%) showed little or no improvement over the last two weeks.
  • Other sectors that were also below the national average include media and communications (-38 per cent), construction (-38 per cent), manufacturing (-41 per cent) and recreation and travel (-66 per cent).

Overall, the UK is lagging behind other large European economies, such as Italy and France, when it comes to hiring rates. However, as the country continues to ease its restrictions, it’s expected that this gap will start closing in the coming weeks. The positive hiring growth in China and France also correlates with these countries flattening the curve of infection. In places where there are still fluctuations in the number of cases, like the US, Spain, Germany, and Australia, there’s a slower pace of hiring recovery.

  • Hiring in Italy and France fell to as much as -60/70% in mid-April, but is now trending above the UK. France showed robust gains in June largely driven by hiring in the healthcare and real estate industries. 
  • Singapore showed the strongest growth over the past month on a par with China, reaching around 11% year-on-year by mid-June. The education industry drove the largest share of those hiring gains.  

In the week commencing 8th July, the following companies are hiring in the UK

Industry  Companies Roles
Civil Engineering Jacobs 76 open roles
Defence and Space UK Ministry of Defence
Leonardo
340 open roles
65 open roles
Electrical & Electronic Manufacturing Siemens 50 open roles
Facilities Services Mitie 900 open roles
Government Administration Aberdeenshire Council
Birmingham City Council
The City of Edinburgh Council
51 open roles
51 open roles
50 open roles
Hospital & Health Care Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
IQVIA
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
54 open roles

182
 open roles

67
 open roles
Information Technology & Services Capgemini
Serco
Thales
80 open roles 
60 open roles
60 open roles
Insurance Direct Line Group 72 open roles
Logistics & Supply Chain XPO Logistics, Inc 914 open roles
Pharmaceuticals AstraZeneca 210 open roles
Retail Asda
Co-op
Iceland
Morrisons
Ocado
Sainsbury's
Superdrug
Tesco
109 open roles
229 open roles
636 open roles
166 open roles
130 open roles
132 open roles
96 open roles
391 open roles
Telecommunications Vodafone 140 open roles
Utilities SSE plc 142 open roles

For a wider overview of the state of play in the UK after Coronavirus, read our article here or learn about bagging the best contracts post Covid here.  If you’re starting a contracting role, Umbrella Exchange have access to a wide range of hassle-free services that can help you with setting up a limited company or finding the right umbrella company for you. To talk to a member of our team, call: 0203 393 3881