There were more than two million active job ads in the UK during the week of 29 May to 4 June 2023, despite caution among employers, according to the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast’s latest Labour Market Tracker.

The Tracker’s data showed that the number of active postings in the week of 29 May-4 June was 2,031,765, a 2.4% decrease compared to the previous week (22-28 May). However, this was an increase of 35.8% on this time last year (1,496,157). Some of this reflects the sustained high level of demand in the market, but some of it will be a response to shortages, as firms leave adverts open for longer than normal.

As for new job postings, there were 179,395 new job postings in the week of 29 May-4 June 2023, 17.3% lower compared to the week before (22-28 May) and 12.1% lower than the year before (30 May-5 June 2022). The REC cautioned against drawing too many comparisons from this data because there was a bank holiday on 29 May 2023 and there was a four-day UK bank holiday weekend on 2 June to 5 June 2022. Shorter weeks can mean activity that would have taken place on the bank holiday day moves to a different week.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said,“Even if there are some signs of caution from employers in the face of economic uncertainty, shortages mean many firms are still hiring, and taking longer to do so. That is why we see so many live job adverts today by comparison to last year.”

“The weekly data both this year and last year has been affected by extra bank holidays, so a clearer trend will emerge during June,” Carberry added. “It will be interesting to see how any slight pullback from cautious employers will impact on job seekers now used to pushing for better pay, more training and quick hiring decisions – and flexibility once in post.”

Occupations with notable increases in job adverts in the week of 29 May-4 June compared to the previous week (22-28 May) include market research interviewers (68.9%), water and sewerage plant operatives (14.9%), and postal workers, mail sorters, messengers and couriers (9%).

On the other hand, dispensing opticians (-15%), podiatrists (-12.9%), parking and civil enforcement occupations (-10%), hospital porters (-9.1%), and solicitors (-8.8%) saw the biggest weekly decline in job adverts.

By local areas, East Lothian and Midlothian (4.6%), Enfield (3.2%), Berkshire (3%), Conwy and Denbighshire (1.7%), and Southend-on-Sea (1.1%) saw notable increases in job adverts. Only seven areas saw growth in job adverts.

At the other end of the scale, East Dunbartonshire (-7.8%), Derry City and Strabane (-7.7%), Haringey and Islington (-7.5%), Na h-Eileanan Siar (Outer Hebrides) (-7%), and Camden and City of London (-6.2%) accounted for the lowest growth in job adverts.

Elena Magrini, Head of Global Research, Lightcast, said, “In its June labour market review, the Office for National Statistics showed that there had been a fall of 79,000 in the number of estimated number of job vacancies between March and May 2023. This downward trend in vacancies appears to be reflected in our latest job postings data, which shows a decrease of 2.4% in the number of active postings in the week 29 May-4 June 2023.”

“Although the number of postings is still far higher than this time last year, the emerging picture seems to be one of a jobs market that is cooling, with the number of vacancies and online job adverts both declining. However, the numbers still suggest there are many businesses that are finding it hard to fill the roles they have with the talent they need,” Magrini said.