The UK’s job market remained resilient as it finished its first full week of the third lockdown in England, according to independent jobs board CV-Library.
Compared with the first full week of the first lockdown in March 2020, the number of job postings was up nearly 92%. The market is even showing more slightly more strength than at the start of the month-long lockdown in November, up 0.8%.
CV-Library suggested that comparisons with the same period last year are the “most revealing” in assessing the market’s strength, with job postings down just 10.7% compared with 2019.
Understandably, jobs catering (75%), leisure and tourism (69%), and retail (49%) all suffered significant falls compared with the first full week of 2020, while distribution (44%), social care (28%) and medical, pharmaceutical and scientific (26%) saw the biggest rises.
There was also an increase of +59.4% across managerial roles and a +46.4% rise in job postings within the telecoms industry.
Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, said: “Starting 2021 in another full lockdown, and off the back of a year spent mainly under restrictions, many feared this would be a tipping point for the UK job market. The impact of COVID-19 is still clear to see within the individual sectors, but the overall initial impact of this third lockdown appears to be the least damaging, proving that we learning to navigate and adapt in these unprecedented times.
“January is traditionally one of the busiest times of the year for the job market and we must acknowledge this seasonal boost. However, in January 2020 the economy was stable and the world hadn’t been impacted by the pandemic. For job postings to be only –10.7% down on that period should provide a boost to both employers and job seekers and is a reassuring start to what looks to be another uncertain year.”
