Professional jobseekers spoiled for choice as competition for workers increases
Professional workers are seeing more competition for their skills, a recruiter said today.
Available candidates are being scooped up, with 22 per cent fewer jobseekers in July than in the same month last year, according to figures given exclusively to City PM by Robert Walters. Meanwhile, opportunities are on the rise with 9,585 vacancies in July, up four per cent on June.
The imbalance is most evident for risk professionals, with vacancies rising 39 per cent year-on-year while jobseekers have dropped 15 per cent.
“July has bucked the trend of a traditionally sluggish summer jobs market, with vacancies continuing to rise. Employers are in a challenging position as they seek to expand their teams to meet pressure from regulators. Candidates are still available, but employers have to compete to secure the best talent,” said Chris Hickey, chief executive of Robert Walters UK, Middle East and Africa.
As businesses look to expand, the market for jobs in sales and marketing is tipping in favour of the worker. Vacancies for sales and marketing professionals were 19 per cent higher in July than in the same month last year, while the number of candidates was down 12 per cent over the same period.
“With employers increasingly confident of a sustained economic recovery, many are looking to expand their sales and marketing teams to drive the growth of their business. Professionals with relevant skills and experience are ideally suited to take advantage of this situation, having a strong hand when it comes to negotiating salary and benefits with employers,” Hickey said.
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