Yorkshire jobs market ‘is faring better in this lockdown’

The Yorkshire jobs market is holding up much better in the second national lockdown than in the first, according to new research by CV-Library.
Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-LibraryLee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library
Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library

The research showed that UK job postings for the week commencing November 5 were up an “incredible” 90 per cent when compared with the week beginning March 23, when the first lockdown was announced.

However, results in Yorkshire were even higher with an average jobs increase of 140 per cent in the county.

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Hull saw the biggest increase with a 224 per cent rise in the number of job postings.

Sheffield saw the second biggest rise in Yorkshire with a 167 per cent rise in job postings. Leeds was third with a 124 per cent increase in job postings and York was fourth with a 100 per cent rise.

CV-Library said the jump in job postings has been seen across all sectors in Yorkshire.

It added that job applications were up 9 per cent on the previous seven days, prior to lockdown, although there were expected declines in the retail ( minus 15 per cent) and leisure and tourism (minus 29 per cent) sectors.

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Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, said: “This is encouraging news.

“No-one could be sure of the impact of a second lockdown, but many organisations feared the worst. So, to be able to report a 90 per cent increase in nationwide job postings is both significant and heartening.

“This data suggests that many businesses feel confident and able to weather the storm of this second lockdown and are still moving forward with their hiring plans.

“Whilst this is only the first week, it’s uplifting to see that UK companies remain defiant and optimistic.”

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Mr Biggins said the job market in Yorkshire has started to recover from the national lockdown in March, but we still have a long way to go to catch up with pre-pandemic growth.

The research also showed a rise in Yorkshire job postings during the first week of the second lockdown compared with the previous week.

Across Yorkshire as a whole, the weekly rise was 18 per cent.

Again, Hull saw the biggest weekly rise (up 32 per cent), followed by Sheffield (up 24 per cent), then Leeds (up 10 per cent) with York showed a more modest 4 per cent increase.

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The second, four-week lockdown in England started om November 5 and is due to end of December 2.

Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), has urged a long-term strategy when it comes to balancing the economy and the pandemic.

He raised concerns about “flip-flopping” between incentives, such as Eat Out To Help Out, and closures.

“We need to take a long-term view and be sensible and realise that we’re going to have to have restrictions in place for some time,” he said.

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“Yes, we can lift them when it’s safe to do so, which will be primarily when large numbers of people have been vaccinated.

He also said it was “too early to judge” if December 2 was too soon to lift the current lockdown restrictions.

CV-Library is one of the UK’s largest online job sites.

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