Vacancies drop as three tier system comes into place
Job vacancies fell in the first full week of October, according to new data that paints a worrying picture about the economy’s direction of travel this winter.
Employment openings fell six per cent week on week in the seven days that ended on 11 October, data from the job board network Broadbean Technology showed.
According to the figures, vacancies fell noticeably in the cities that have been badly hit by coronavirus. Manchester and Birmingham saw advertised roles drop by eight and five per cent respectively, for example.
It comes as the government negotiates with local leaders about the new tiered coronavirus restrictions system.
Liverpool is currently the only area in “Tier 3”, which has the tightest restrictions. London has been put in “Tier 2”, while the government is in talks with leaders in Manchester about the city’s status.
Economists have warned that new lockdowns – although they may be necessary to contain the virus – will have damaging economic effects.
The jobs market is already in a bad place. Figures earlier this week showed that redundancies soared to the highest level in more than a decade between June and August, rising by a record 114,000 between June and August.
However, Broadbean’s figures showed that vacancies rose in the week ending 11 October when looked at month on month.
The economic data is currently far from certain, but this could suggest that although vacancies have been recovering, the latest spike in cases and restrictions has already taken a toll on jobs.
“There’s no denying that the UK is facing tough times with regional lockdowns being implemented on a larger scale,” said Alex Fourlis, managing director at Broadbean Technology.
“However, with employers better able to facilitate remote working and stay operational in times of lockdown, we are quietly confident that we won’t see the negative vacancy growth that we witnessed earlier this year.”