Hiring slowed in November – but 2021 is a record year for the job market

After a year where vacancies have hit record levels, the number of job adverts have taken a downward turn – in November vacancy volumes were the lowest seen since May.

In November, national vacancies dropped -9 per cent, ending a 10-month hiring spree where vacancies steadily increased by +6 per cent each month from early 2021 (an average of 32,377 new professional vacancies per month).

The findings – from professional services recruiter Robert Walters ahead of the launch of its 2022 UK Salary Guide – found the biggest contraction in November to be in the North (-14 per cent) following the announcement that the HS2 Northern Powerhouse Rail will be downgraded.

Contractions were also felt in the South (-10 per cent), London (-9 per cent), and the Midlands (-8 per cent).

Chris Poole, managing director of Robert Walters, said: “It is not surprising to hear that hiring slowed somewhat in November – where following the reopening of many sectors post lockdown, businesses made immediate staffing assessments based on people leaving or not returning, which in-turn led to a short-term spike in hiring that was always going to be temporary.

“The emergence of a new variant has yet again left members of Parliament sitting on either side of the lockdown argument – creating a lingering air of uncertainty across businesses, particularly within the retail, leisure and hospitality space.

“Nonetheless, the UK is better placed to handle COVID over winter than other European countries – in part due to an early lift of lockdown measures, backed by the vaccine and booster programme roll-out. This means that while in other countries we may well see a complete recruitment freeze take place in certain areas, this is unlikely to happen in the UK.”

Nationally, professional vacancies are +110 per cent up on 2020 and just as importantly +55 per cent up when compared with 2019 pre-pandemic numbers.

With that, June 2021 was the record month across the period with almost three times the number of vacancies compared to June 2020 (+263 per cent), and over 60 per cent more jobs when compared to June 2019.

Across all professional areas,

London has consistently maintained approximately 41-42 per cent of the national vacancies.

Outside of London, the South is the largest region (Sout East, South West, and East of England) but national share of professional vacancies has slipped from 28 per cent in 2019 to 26 per cent so far this year.

Instead, regional growth has been across the Midlands and The North.

The Midlands’ share of professional vacancies is up from 9.9 per cent to 10.4 per cent and in The North from 15.2 per cent to 16.5 per cent - making it the fastest growing part of the country.

Financial services roles continue to be at record levels – with vacancies up by +76 per cent on average since 2020, and by +30 per cent when compared with 2019 levels.

During the past year there has been a move of recruitment away from London to regions such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham.

In 2019, 46 per cent of vacancies in the sector were in the capital, and in 2021 this has fallen to 39 per cent.

However, the bulge bracket firms have broadly kept their recruitment into London in line with regional recruitment.

Results show a notable decline in the number of executive management roles advertised this year (-20 per cent), instead replaced by a rise in shortterm consultants (+395 per cent).

Across financial services firms, risk & compliance roles continue to surge (+40 per cent). Roles for liability management (-44 per cent), corporate treasury (-39 per cent), private equity (30 per cent), and commercial banking (-4 per cent ) are yet to meet pre-pandemic levels.