Salaries 'sky-rocket' As Vacancies Go Unfilled

According to the latest job market statistics from leading independent job site CV-Library, which compared job market data from February 2018 with February 2019, the key cities across the UK that saw strong pay growth included:

• Liverpool (12%)
• Edinburgh (11.5%)
• Leeds (7.22%)
• Cardiff (6.61%)
• Birmingham (4.3%)

Looking at the amount of jobs being advertised, vacancies rose by a steady 4% last month, though this was almost equally matched by a 3.4% decline in candidate applications. What’s more, some of the main industries requiring the skills of EU workers are noticing the effects of Brexit discussions already, with job applications in hospitality falling by 15.3%, 7.5% in driving and 9.8% in recruitment.

Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, comments: “Employers are currently under immense pressure to rethink their hiring strategies, which could be why we’ve seen an increase in salaries across the board. From our data we can see that Northern cities like Liverpool and Leeds are desperate to attract more candidates with higher salaries.”

Looking at the bigger picture, the findings show that the UK job market has remained largely resilient. Overall, the amount of candidates registering their CV on CV-Library was up by 5.6% year-on-year, suggesting that while professionals may be feeling tentative about making their career move, many are still considering their prospects.

Our View

Employers are reacting to the challenges of a tightening labour market by boosting advertised salaries, a tactic that has been used before and shown to be less than a 'silver bullet' solution. We believe that rather than spending their way out of hiring difficulties organisations should innovate.

Graham Brown, Managing Director of Forces Recruitment Services, comments: “Labour market conditions are such that there is a very real battle for top talent. Jobseekers are more selective and, as the latest CV-Library report clearly demonstrates, opportunities are plentiful. Employers need to work smarter, be open to new ideas, and not simply rely on the standard issue methods. The ex-military talent pool is a good place to start.”

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