More Job Vacancies Than Candidates For First Time Since Recession

For the first time in years, advertised job vacancies have outstripped the number of jobseekers in the UK, On Rec reports.

Figures from the latest Job Market Report by Adzuna reveal that total advertised vacancies in October 2014 grew 3.4% month-on-month to reach 936,596. That’s up 25.1% from October the previous year. Meanwhile, there were reported to be 887,771 jobseekers during this time.

That equates to a landmark 0.95 potential candidates for each available position – down from 1.02 in September, when there were 906,191 advertised vacancies. It also means that competition for jobs has fallen year-on-year from a ratio of 1.69.

As well as this, average salaries rose above the inflation rate in October this year. The average advertised salary grew 4.3% year-on-year to £34,670, beating the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate of 1.3%. Experts are advising that this is the first sign of genuine wage growth since pre-recession.

Advertised salaries for manufacturing jobs grew by 10.4% in October to an average of £30,578; while IT salaries grew 10.3% to £44, 918, with start-up and young business vacancies up 80% – at 8,554.

There was also good news for graduates, whose average salaries saw a 15.7% year-on-year increase to £26,438 in October 2014.

Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter stated that: “Job applicants are in a much stronger position than they were a year ago – as employers offer higher salaries in the hope of attracting the very best talent. Over half a million fewer people are unemployed than a year ago and annual salary growth maintaining a lead on inflation for three months on the trot is an excellent sign.”

Commenting on the higher wages of those in technology and IT, Hunter explained that this is probably due to start-up companies expanding their capacity.

“This brings with it an attendant increase in the value of IT positions to these companies as infrastructure makes greater demands on their resources the need for talented and experienced professionals to oversee the upscaling process leads to fierce salary competition,” he noted.