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Latest jobs market data 23

ended 11. September 2023

Tomorrow morning at 07:00, the latest jobs market data is being published by the Office for National Statistics. Ahead of this, we're looking for recruiters and HRs to answer the questions below. Your responses will be sent to local, trade and national media tomorrow morning when the data drops. Also, please let us know if available for radio interviews.

  • How is the jobs market in your experience right now? Is it holding up, or starting to teeter due to inflation, higher interest rates and other economic headwinds?
  • Are employees continuing to push for pay rises to help them with the cost of living crisis and higher mortgage payments? How are employers responding?
  • Are companies actively hiring or proving more cautious in the current environment? Any sectors particularly strong or weak?
  • Have you seen companies put recruitment on hold or even make redundancies? If so, in which sectors?

Any other thoughts or insights on the current state of the jobs market, send them across.

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Kerri-Ann Hargreaves
Director - IronMarket Talent at IronMarket Wealth
Within the finance, accountancy and engineering sectors, businesses are continuing to hire, despite the strong economic headwinds, most notably high inflation and high interest rates. One definitive trend is an increase in people above retirement age returning to the workforce. This appears to be a direct response to the cost of living crisis. We are seeing larger businesses offering a cost of living increase as part of annual pay reviews, generally between 7%-10%, but small businesses are struggling with this demand and losing talent. Many job seekers continue to say their reason for moving is the cost of living crisis and are focusing on salary increases, bonuses and additional benefits such as healthcare.
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Adam Myers
Head Of HR Consulting at Stellamar
The UK job market is still very busy at the moment, surprisingly so given the pressures many sectors are under. Companies continue to hire despite the economic uncertainty. Candidates are pushing for higher salaries and are being choosy about what they apply for. It's been a while now since we have seen much in the way of redundancies or recruitment holds, which is a positive. Money is the key to everything hiring-related right now, especially when dealing with a younger generation just entering the workplace, many of whom fear never being able to even own a property. It's crucial that organisations are not only competitive around salary, but spell out what the 'earnings journey' will look like for the employee. The biggest problem at the moment in the hiring market is organisations being able to fill what are perceived as 'lower level' roles. This is specifically the case in sectors such as retail, hospitality and transport.