Vacancies continue to rise

JOB vacancies have hit a record high as recruitment challenges continue to intensify for businesses across the region, business leaders have revealed.

New labour market figures reveal the number of job vacancies between August to October 2021 averaged at 1.172 million, up 222,000 compared with the previous three months.

This is an increase of 388,000 from pre-pandemic January to March 2020 level, with 15 out of the 18 industry sectors showing record highs.

Nationally, the number of employees on payroll rose by 160,000 in October 2021. However, the payroll figures could include people who lost their jobs at the end of September still receiving redundancy pay.

The West Midlands has also seen strong employee growth over the last year.

Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce say that the vacancy figures will have a knock-on effect on businesses’ operating capacity and growth, which will undoubtedly impact the region’s economic recovery. Emily Stubbs, policy and projects manager at the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “The ONS report that it may take a few months to see the full impact of furlough in these statistics, however, early estimates suggest that the end of the job retention scheme has had little effect on the number of payrolled employees in October.

“Vacancies, however, have again reached a new record high, suggesting that recruitment challenges are intensifying for businesses. If organisations remain unable to access the talent they need, this will reduce operating capacity and restrict growth, presenting a significant risk to economic recovery.

“We want to hear from local businesses on the obstacles they are facing as we emerge from the pandemic. The Chambers are currently surveying Greater Birmingham firms for our quarterly business report. The results of this survey will be shared with key local and national Government contacts and the Bank of England, to help inform policy decision making. I highly encourage readers to spare five minutes and ensure their experiences are represented in the report.”