The total number of active job postings in the UK for the week of 17-23 April stood at 1.69 million, a 4% increase compared to the previous week (10-16 April) and a 19.5% increase compared to the year before (18-24 April 2022). This is according to research from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and Lightcast’s latest Labour Market Tracker.

The research noted that the active job postings figure has remained above 1.4 million since January 2022.

Meanwhile, there were 189,832 new job postings in the week of 17-23 April 2023, 31.8% higher compared to the week before, as firms returned to hiring after the Easter break.

The Labour Market Tracker noted that six out of the UK’s top ten hiring hotspots were in Northern Ireland.

Causeway Coast and Glens (+16.1%), Fermanagh and Omagh (+12.2%), Derry City and Strabane (+11.8%), Antrim and Newtownabbey (+10.4%), Newry, Mourne and Down (+10%), Lisburn and Castlereagh (+9.7%) all saw notable increases in job adverts.

“In recent months there has been growing need for secondary school teachers, programmers and software development professionals, solicitors, cleaners and domestic workers in Northern Ireland,” the Tracker noted.

Separately, Bexley and Greenwich (+0%) saw no growth in job adverts, while Camden and City of London (+0.3%), Solihull (+1.1%), Westminster (+1.3%), and Cambridgeshire CC (+1.2%) accounted for the lowest growth in job adverts.

Meanwhile, occupations with notable increases in job adverts in the week of 17-23 April compared to the previous week (10-16 April) include collector salespersons and credit card agent (+18.4%), dental practitioner (+13.2%), glaziers (who install different glass products), window fabricators and fitters (+12.6%). 

On the other hand job adverts for floorers and wall tilers (-11.6%), driving instructors (-4.5%), prison service officers (below principal officer) (-4.1%), solicitors (-2.0%), and IT engineers (-1.8%) all saw weekly declines.

Neil Carberry, Chief Executive of the REC, said, “Smoothing out week-to-week volatility driven by bank and school holidays, we can see that there is a relatively stable pattern of demand in the labour market, with 180,000 to 200,000 new vacancies every week and more than 1.4 million active job adverts."

Carberry added, “What we are beginning to see, however, is greater variation in demand. Our members report that vacancies have weakened somewhat in the big sectors which have been strong since onset of the pandemic – logistics, driving and food – while the market remains healthier elsewhere. Likewise, the growth in adverts for collector salespersons and credit card agents shows the effects of the cost-of-living squeeze, as consumers switch behaviour towards lower-cost shopping and spread out payments more. This changing picture makes ensuring workers can find their way to sectors where demand is high all the more important.”