What is the labour/recruitment market like in your industry?

[Lolingokay]

Obviously COVID caused a severe recession and there was high unemployment. I saw far less vacancies being advertised and many people taking jobs they were overqualified for, and ones where they would have deserved higher pay given their skills level.

Yet I've heard people say it's an employee's market now, there are so many vacancies and not enough people to fill these jobs. Apparently companies are really struggling to recruit people and are willing to hire people that only meet about half or two-thirds of the job description criteria.

I understand this may be the case for jobs like lorry driving, construction etc (which were mainly filled by Europeans who have now left). But is this really the case in professional industries, and if so, which ones? I'm interested in hearing about any industry but particularly thinking about consulting, policy, research etc. And what would the reasons be?

In education… not many work a year or more. They all leave and go to private schools/ academies who pay A LOT more

12-13% of drivers from EU. That's still a big proportion and impacting massively. As I said, not everyone wants to hear about the disastrous effects of Brexit b

I work in an industry historically short of people ( though highly paid, just so dull and niche) . I was amazed at our jazzy new graduates last October- really impressive. My boss totally said it was down to the pull of the business and his ability to attract ' educated staff'. Lol. All 4 left a month ago and went into something fun!! I chuckled- got a pay rise! The market is full on!!

@RunningInTheWind I've been recruiting for project/programme manager roles in the North West and we can't get candidates to fill the interview slots never mind the roles. The good ones are being snapped up instantly. I've just recruited someone in their early 60s via one of the big recruitment agencies so definitely worth approaching agencies.

I work for an airline. I've survived 2 rounds of redundancies. I think there's a 3rd round coming. I know literally hundreds of ex-colleagues, peers and former employees who aren't working right now. There are zero vacancies.

@MmeSosostris I stand corrected ;) (I've name changed, it's still me. ;)

Check out NHS jobs, monster, glassdoor, and I think it's made its way onto a few other locations as well. It is fixed term, but at the moment there are plenty of jobs in NHS information services and libraries all over the country, I'd be surprised if it changes any time soon! It does depend on where you are, it's up in the north west, but if you think it would suit you, good luck, and Merry Christmas!

Oh, and on most sites, title is Digital Library Graduate Trainee.

I've been offered several jobs in the last few months and I'm not looking, could walk into one next week if I wanted.
Practice Nurse. So many retiring and very few joining as placements for nurses were cut down during covid so very few got any experience in Primary Care. Everywhere just recruits from an ever dwindling pool of nurses that they steal from each other!

@toomanynutsmaybe I'm in the NHS. I wouldn't say it's a general problem, but after 3 decades at work I know my limitations, I refuse even to attempt a higher level as I'd be no good at it. We're in the South East so crazy cost of living but no London weighting, that's the main issue. Fact is I feel lucky to have a job I like on a salary where the month is finally slightly shorter than my payslip. I don't really look beyond that, I'm not interested.

@Lolingokay we're not lowering standards. Our whole brand depends on us having excellent and deeply experienced consultants. Other consultancies - most likely bigger than ours - can employ more junior people and reorganise how they go about projects.

So many businesses are transforming the way they work - with covid as the catalyst - that there's a lot of work for consultancies. We're completely sold out. No one on the bench at all.

I'm looking for inspiration for the future. Around 40 years work experience, qualified to Masters level, and strong transferable skills. Mostly part time work for work/life/health balance. I feel I'm at a dead end now, and I'm looking for part time opportunities or re-training. Any suggestions? (Sorry for jumping on your thread!)

A bit of a different story in the arts. Sector has been battered by Covid, salaries stagnating or dropping, not many senior roles and still a lot of competition for not very well paid jobs.

Interesting to see the recruitment/retention issue across so many areas of work but I'm still baffled as to why - where have all the staff gone? I know post Covid some have gone off the grid or moved to consulting or freelance work but that doesn't fully account for this phenomenon. I wonder what the reasons are?

Waferbiscuit which area of the arts are you in?

I work in financial services in a fairly specialist role. There are not enough of us (with the necessary skills & experience) to go round so it seems to be a revolving door of people moving from one company to another for more money. One colleague handed her notice in with the intention of taking a career break but within a week had been contacted by one company offering significantly more money, followed by another offering even more. I moved house recently so I'm not in the mood for anymore upheaval, otherwise I'd be putting myself out there as well.

I'm in the theatre industry - lighting design/stage management/etc are an employees market at the moment, and so hard to recruit, but anything administrative, community theatre or producing based is still swamped with applications - maybe more than before tbh as they're all flexible and be done from home to some extent!

@LadyWithLapdog

12-13% of drivers from EU. That's still a big proportion and impacting massively. As I said, not everyone wants to hear about the disastrous effects of Brexit b

We don’t think you that all. It said about 2% of EU drivers had gone - by far the majority of the attrition has been of UK drivers and it has been going on for longer than Brexit. Some people are keen to blame a lot of things that have nothing to do with Brexit on Brexit.

Anything in Sustainability and Net Zero. From tech development to policy.

I'm in this area and we're turning away work daily because we don't have the capacity to deal with the volume of enquires. I'm also sick of having to explain the concept to people and tell them that no, reducing your energy use is not the same as being on a net zero pathway no matter how much you pretend it is.

Legal - financial services. Hard to get good recruits. Lots of vacancies

Someone upthread made an excellent point. Those with flexible hours are staying out for now as shattered and juggling.

But if companies want great recruits then offering more part time roles will get them. My colleagues and I are all staying put only for this reason - we would be off in a shot for a part time role elsewhere.

Yes, a colleague wanting to come back from mat leave dropping to 3 days has been told no. Admittedly they are not allowed to advertise 2 day jobs, but I just feel we should aim to keep an experienced colleague if we possibly can.

Thank you so much everyone for your insightful answers!

@JamieFrasersBigSwingingKilt I'm interested, what's your company's solution and that of other consulting companies like yours? if you don't want to recruit less experienced consultants and train them, and also can't find enough experienced consultants or aren't able to pay them as much as they're demanding, how are you dealing with this?

@PermanentTemporary

Yes, a colleague wanting to come back from mat leave dropping to 3 days has been told no. Admittedly they are not allowed to advertise 2 day jobs, but I just feel we should aim to keep an experienced colleague if we possibly can.

Yes that's tricky, what's the company doing about this? I guess it depends on whether it's just a request from your colleague or a deal breaker for her?

@Waferbiscuit

A bit of a different story in the arts. Sector has been battered by Covid, salaries stagnating or dropping, not many senior roles and still a lot of competition for not very well paid jobs.

Interesting to see the recruitment/retention issue across so many areas of work but I'm still baffled as to why - where have all the staff gone? I know post Covid some have gone off the grid or moved to consulting or freelance work but that doesn't fully account for this phenomenon. I wonder what the reasons are?

Still wondering this!

@Interestedinthisquestion

I'm looking for inspiration for the future. Around 40 years work experience, qualified to Masters level, and strong transferable skills. Mostly part time work for work/life/health balance. I feel I'm at a dead end now, and I'm looking for part time opportunities or re-training. Any suggestions? (Sorry for jumping on your thread!)

No need to apologise! Maybe people can help more if you share what sector you're in/what skills you have?

I work for a university and there are a huge number of vacancies being advertised at the moment. PSS roles £45+

Cyber security, huuuuuge drive to recruit currently. A good sector to move into and not difficult, sounds much more technical than it actually is.