UK job market faces one of the most difficult starts to the year in four years

The UK jobs market experienced its biggest monthly fall in vacancies in over three years in December, as business confidence in the UK continues to contract according to the UK Job Market Report by job search engine Adzuna.

Total advertised job vacancies dropped -6.95% in December to 929,138, the second month in a row that the total vacancies are lower than 1 million. Early data also anticipates that January could be equally tough, with vacancies expected to decrease again, by between -6% and -8%. The last time job vacancies fell this dramatically was in June 2020 when monthly vacancies dropped -18.14% as businesses struggled to get to grips with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fall in vacancies also means competition for jobs is now the highest it’s been since September 2021, at 1.68 jobseekers per vacancy. This is compared to May and June when it was at its 2023 lowest, at 1.45.

This paints a difficult picture for people looking for new roles this new year. However, it’s not all bad, with average advertised salaries on the rise, up +0.96% monthly to £37,577, and up +2.28% on an annual basis. This may point to a lack of entry-level or junior positions available, with companies hiring only for more senior roles.

More job adverts are neglecting to include salary data (50.2%) compared to those that do. This makes it hard for potential candidates to understand the seniority of a role and if it is relevant for them to apply for.

Table 1: UK vacancies, jobseekers per vacancies and advertised UK salary

December 2023
November 2023
Monthly
Change
Annual change from December
2022
UK Vacancies
929,138
998,562
-6.95%
-12.73%
Jobseekers per Vacancy
1.68
1.54
+0.14
+0.26 (up from 1.42)
Av. Advertised UK Salary
£37,577
£37,221
+0.96%
+2.28%

Teaching hiring remains strong despite widespread falls

Teaching was the only sector to experience a rise in monthly job vacancies in December, up +4.39% compared to November and an increase of +38.32% compared to 2022’s figures. Teaching was also the sector with the shortest time to fill for roles, at 30.9 days on average, up from 37.8 the previous month, whilst the average for all sectors was 35.6 days.

Every other sector saw a monthly fall in advertised job vacancies throughout December, with the biggest falls in Retail (-17.94%), Manufacturing (-17.05%), Hospitality & Catering (-14.13%) and Trade & Construction (-13.56%). The availability of Graduate roles has also continued to suffer with live job advertisements down -8.4% compared to November. The sector also takes the longest to fill roles, on average 47.2 days, which points to high competition in the sector for a smaller number of available opportunities.

When compared to last year’s figures, HR & Recruitment vacancies have fallen the most, down -43.38% to 10,127 roles, followed by IT jobs which are down -35.34% to 90,507. The smallest fall was in Engineering, which has seen vacancies drop only -3.48% compared to the same time last year. Despite the fall in advertised vacancies, it’s still one of the biggest hiring sectors on the Adzuna platform with 83,339 available jobs.

Due to positive growth in average advertised salaries in the UK, there was almost widespread growth in sector salaries. The biggest increases were in Creative & Design jobs, up +2.15% to £39,112 and Retail jobs, up +2.19% to £28,097. IT and Maintenance were the only two sectors to see average advertised salaries fall -1% and -1.65% respectively. IT advertised salaries were also down -8.66% on an annual basis. Whilst this may seem like more bad news for the IT sector, this was one of the smallest decreases in salaries the sector has experienced in the past year, demonstrating that fortunes may be turning.

Social Work jobs saw the biggest increase in advertised salaries compared to the same time last year, up +11.54% to £34,446, followed by Travel, up +10.77% to £32,276, and Energy, Oil & Gas, up +10.69% to £44,949.