UK Construction Job Vacancies Continue To Soar

The latest ONS data shows that there were 43,000 construction job vacancies between July and September, the first time it has ever risen above 40,000.    

Dominick Sandford, managing director, at IronmongeryDirect, said:    

“We’re continuing to see the number of available UK jobs rising(1) as the sector and economy as a whole recovers from the pandemic. The latest data shows that there were 43,000 construction job vacancies between July and September, by far the highest it’s ever been, and the first time it’s ever risen to over 40,000.    

“This is a huge increase of 7,000 vacancies from June to August, which, at the time, was another record for the industry, showing a definite trend.   

“These large increases in vacancies suggest that the industry is confident about the sector’s future, and is investing in manpower to tackle upcoming projects. However, with the number of jobs available continuing to increase, it appears that some companies are struggling to find staff to hire.   

“Unfortunately, the sector also saw unemployment numbers rise by 9,000 to 62,0002, the highest figure since December to February (70,000) earlier this year.   

“This corresponds with a large increase in redundancies over the same timeframe(3), rising from 5,000 between May-July, to 9,000. This is the first time that redundancies have risen since February-April this year.     

“This new data shows that there is still plenty of movement in the industry, and that will likely continue, with vacancies and redundancies both rising. Whilst unemployment remains high in construction, the sizable increase in new jobs provides hope for the future that this figure will fall once again, as long as companies are able to attract new staff.” 

For more information on IronmongeryDirect, visit: https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/    

References:  

 1) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/datasets/vacanciesbyindustryvacs02 

2) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/datasets/unemploymentbypreviousindustrialsectorunem03 

3) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/redundancies/datasets/redundanciesbyindustryagesexandreemploymentratesred02 

4) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/averagehoursworkedbyindustryhour03 

Source : IronmongeryDirect

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