Overall, the number of professional vacancies increased by 16.9% between 2016 and 2017. The increase can be ascribed to a slight drop in vacancies after the EU referendum in June 2016 and an increase towards the end of 2017.
As certainty about the Brexit deal failed to emerge from negotiations, vacancies that had been postponed had to be filled. A closer look at the numbers reveals that the biggest leap in vacancies came in October and November 2017; each month was up 33% year on year. To a certain extent this coincides with business sentiment shifting, with leaders making a decision to move forward with investment into hiring for the coming year. For the past two years a third of the professional jobs have been STEM roles. The Government has been very keen to promote investment into technology, so this could reflect the new grants now taking effect.
Despite a minor 0.31% dip year on year, Greater London remains the stronghold for jobs in the UK, with 45.87% of new vacancies posted in this region during 2017. Fear mongering about a slow-down in the UK’s financial heartland due to uncertainties thrown up by Brexit don’t seem to have materialised. Elsewhere, the biggest increases in jobs can be seen in the North East of England, which is up 0.51% year on year. Could we finally be seeing the government investment in the Northern Powerhouse begin to pay off? If so, it seems the North East is faring markedly better than the North West, which has crept up 0.05% with just 1.28% of UK jobs in 2017. Another area of growth, although slight, was in the West Midlands, which saw its percentage of UK jobs rise 0.43% to 5.85%. This could be due to the Midlands Engine, a £392 million government investment in skills, connectivity and local growth in the region, which was announced in March.
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