The UK job market continues to be challenging for job hunters with annual job vacancies falling by almost one-fifth (-19.49%) to 852,703 compared to the same time last year. The new data from the latest UK Job Market Report by job search engine Adzuna, which shows vacancies down -0.18% compared to last month, comes despite recent GDP growth (0.4% in May 2024) and demonstrates little respite for those looking for new roles as the country heads into its annual summer lull.
Jobseeker figures continue to rise, with 1.95 jobseekers available for every live vacancy up from 1.91 in May. This is the highest it has been for three years, when the figure reached 2.07 in June 2021. Meanwhile the average job is now listed for 36 days, a decrease from 36.9 days the previous month.
In keeping with the broader hiring trends this year, as vacancies have fallen, average advertised salaries are rising, up +0.18% compared to May and up +2.72% compared to last June. The average advertised salary is now at £38,843, the highest this year pointing to the ongoing tightness in the labour market.
However, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to track salaries as employers continue to shun salary transparency. Less than half of job adverts feature salary information at 47.7%, down from 49.5% in May, which is the lowest recorded figure since Adzuna started tracking this metric in 2016. The month of June historically is often the lowest month for salary transparency – 58.3% in June 2022 and 50.2% in June 2023.
Table 1: UK vacancies, jobseekers per vacancies and advertised UK salary
June 2024May 2024Monthly ChangeAnnual change from June 2023UK Vacancies852,703854,248-0.18%-19.49%Jobseekers per Vacancy1.951.88+0.070.5 (up from 1.45)Av. Advertised UK Salary£38,834£38,765+0.18%+2.72%
Professional service sectors beginning to bounce back
Companies in professional service sectors stepped up hiring plans in June. The Legal sector experienced the highest monthly job increases (+8.46%), whilst PR, Advertising & Marketing (+3.78%) and Creative & Design (+3.46%) experienced the first growth in vacancies since February 2024. To highlight, the IT sector had its first positive monthly growth in vacancies (+2.01%) since June 2023.
Another sector that experienced its first monthly increase in a long time is Domestic help & Cleaning (+7.8%). Teaching (+4%), Manufacturing (+3.61%), and Charity & Voluntary (+3.46%) sectors all continued their month-over-month growth. Graduate vacancies have increased by +1.9%, for the second month in a row.
Meanwhile, industries such as Admin (-5.02%), Healthcare & Nursing (-4.16%) and Travel (-3.17%) saw monthly vacancies fall this month. Hospitality & Catering also experienced a fall in vacancies (-5.32%), which is unusual as often we see a spike in hospitality hiring over the summer. Last June, Hospitality & Catering job adverts increased +2.34%, whilst roles were up +1.28% in June 2022.
Year-on-year, same as in May 2024, Teaching and Travel were again the only two sectors to see annual job vacancies rise, +10.12% and +1.54% and respectively. The majority of sectors saw vacancies continue to fall including Trade & Construction (-50%), Admin (-47.56%), PR, Advertising & Marketing (-44.9%) and Domestic Help & Cleaning (-43.87%). Graduate roles have fallen by a quarter since last year (-25.4%).
When it comes to average advertised salaries, the majority of industries experienced monthly increases including Travel (+2.19%), Customer Services (+2.03%), Scientific & QA (+1.33%), Social Work (+1.28%), Teaching (+1.24%), and Logistics & Warehouse (+1.19%). Only a few industries saw vacancies fall including Accounting & Finance (-1.24%), Energy, Oil & Gas (-0.67%) and IT (-0.29%).
Annual salaries continued to increase across the board with only IT experiencing an annual decrease (-4.86%). The highest increase was for Energy, Oil & Gas (+20.33%), driven by a skills shortage, geopolitical factors such as Russia and OPEC’s oil output cuts and the shift to cleaner renewable energy which are all contributing to the increased need for expertise in the sector.
Other sectors including Social Work (+11.88%), Retail (+11.21%) and Manufacturing (+9.18%) also experienced above-inflation increases in average advertised salaries.
Table 2: Regional trends, advertised salaries
RegionAverage SalaryAnnual changeEast Midlands£36,195+5.48%Eastern England£37,689+5.45%West Midlands£37,003+4.89%North West England£37,285+4.18%North East England £35,044+4%South West England£36,826+3.27%Yorkshire And The Humber£36,444+2.56%Scotland£35,043+2.08%London£44,867+1.45%South East England£36,716+1.41%Northern Ireland£35,763+1.28%Wales£34,000+0.67%
West Midlands continues its position as the fastest-growing region for salaries in the UK, maintaining the top spot for the past eight months with salaries increasing by +5.48% compared to the same time last year. This is closely followed by Eastern England (+5.45%) and West Midlands (+4.89%).
London has the highest salaries in the country, at £44,867, but is at the lower end of the graph for growth, +1.45% since June 2023. Wales has the least growth at +0.67%, followed by Northern Ireland, +1.28%.
Cambridge top for job hunters
Cambridge remains the top city for job hunters, with the lowest jobseeker to available roles ratio at 0.35, with 7,130 roles available. Guildford comes second with 0.52 and Exeter third with 0.64.
The hardest city to find a role is Bradford, with 8.2 jobseekers per role. Rochdale has overtaken Middlesbrough with 4.7 and 4.63 respectively.
Demand continues for warehouse roles
Warehouse work continues to be the most-searched-for role for the past 18 months, topping Adzuna’s Trending Jobs list. This metric tracks demand for a wide range of occupations and designates an Interest Quotient for each role. The higher the quotient, the more in demand those roles are among Adzuna jobseekers.
Cleaner is now the second most-searched for role, up from fourth last month. Social care work remains third.
Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “The positive economic growth that has been recorded in the first two quarters of the year has yet to filter through to hiring. Whilst businesses may have put their hiring plans on pause because of the General Election, compared to the same time last year, hiring is down nearly a fifth across the UK. This is a clear sign that the job sector has still not fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. But there are green shoots on the horizon: not least the professional services sector and the creative sector stepping up hiring and the IT sector returning to growth for the first time this month since 2023. Hiring traditionally falls in the summer months as companies pause recruitment for holidays, so we may need to wait until September until job hunters see the benefits from economic growth translate into more job opportunities.”
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