Recently released data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the number of job vacancies in the UK surpassed pre-pandemic levels in the three months to June.
The ONS said there were 862,000 jobs available on offer between April and June, 77,500 higher than the same period in 2020.
The news regarding job vacancies follows the data released showing the number of people on payroll saw the biggest rise since the start of the pandemic. This thanks to the return of Hospitality businesses who were allowed to reopen in May after easing of covid restrictions.
BCC Head of Economics, Suren Thiru, said:
“The significant rise in payroll employment suggests that UK jobs market continued to improve as the economy gradually reopened.
“Surging demand for labour amid the economy unlocking, the rapid vaccine rollout and continued government support helped drive higher payroll employment in June, despite the delay to the end of the roadmap.
“The rise in vacancies confirms the ongoing struggle to hire staff. The recruitment difficulties faced by firms go well beyond temporary bottlenecks and with many facing an increasing skills gap, staff shortages may drag on any recovery.
“The July reopening will further boost labour demand. However, the UK jobs market is moving into a more turbulent period with unemployment likely to drift moderately higher in the near term as the furlough scheme winds down and those who stopped looking for work during covid return as restrictions end.
“More needs to be done to ensure businesses have access to skills when these can’t be recruited locally, including access to rapid and agile training and re-skilling opportunities for adults in the workforce and a more flexible immigration system which allows firms to access the high and low skilled workers they need.”
Arjun Heir, Policy Executive at Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, said:
‘‘The increase in payroll employment is a key indication the UK economy is starting to recover from the economic shocks of Covid-19. Furthermore, the number of job vacancies available continues to highlight some of the challenges in the labour market that businesses are currently experiencing such as the skills gap. Nevertheless, we will continue to work with government and support businesses as we continue to emerge from the pandemic.’’