Coronavirus drives down London vacancies a third in 2020
The number of jobs up for grabs in the capital has declined by nearly a third (32%) this year as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
In the UK on average hiring has dropped by more than a fifth (22%) this year, with the hospitality sector hit particularly hard.
In hospitality the number of vacancies throughout 2020 fell by 46 per cent, according to research by recruitment platform Broadbean.
Broadbean Technology managing director Alex Fourlis said: “With the country under some form of restrictions for the majority of 2020 we absolutely expected there to be an impact on hiring numbers, however, in the circumstances, a 22 per cent decline overall suggests that the UK can weather this storm relatively well.”
Where hiring was down in general, the year-on-year weekly comparison have shown some promising signs.
Vacancy numbers for the week ending 20 December were up 4 per cent for the whole of the UK when compared with the same period in 2020, where there would typically be a seasonal drop.
This was particularly notable in the IT profession, with these roles seeing a 27 per cent increase in numbers last week when compared to 2019, which is indicative of the continued demand for these experts as remote working remains in place for many businesses.
But other sectors that would usually see a spike in recruitment reported a significant drop. Hospitality jobs were down more than half (55%) last week compared to 2019 figures, with sales and trading roles also dropping 7 per cent in the same period as the prolonged closure of shops and hospitality venues continues.
Fourlis continued: “The significant drop across hospitality at a time when we’d expect seasonal peaks in recruitment activity will naturally be a concern for those working in what has undoubtedly been one of the hardest hit sectors during the Covid-19 outbreak.
“With large sections of the UK now in Tier 4 restrictions, it’s likely that these numbers will remain low for hospitality in particular over the holiday period.”