A report revealed that seasonal hiring and the hiring of graduates has fueled growth in the UK job market as Christmas nears.
Adzuna’s research shows that around 23,000 temporary jobs are currently being advertised across sectors like catering, hospitality and retail.
According to the UK Job Market Report by the jobs site, the number of vacancies has increased by 0.64% over the last six months. This is a positive sign after the difficult first half of 2024.
Graduate positions experienced an increase in vacancies, which continued the upward trend of the previous five months. Vacancies rose by 0.1% while salaries reached a record level of PS25.101.
Andrew Hunter, Adzuna’s co-founder, stated: 2024 started off with a challenge, as January vacancies fell close to -7.7% monthly and -15% annual, making it one of the darkest Januarys in history. The second half of the calendar year, however, has shown signs that the recovery is underway.
Data also showed that the biggest annual salary rise since April 2021 is 6.2%, bringing the average earnings per year to PS39.234. The data also shows an increase of 6.9% on a year-on-year basis.
Hunter said: “In October this year, we experienced the first positive change over a six-month period in vacancies. Sectors like retail, construction, and trade are hiring more as they prepare for the busy holiday shopping season. “We are eager to see what this will lead to as we enter the new year.”
In October, however, despite a rise in the number of seasonal and graduate hires, there was still a 0.17% decrease in vacancies.
The number of job seekers per available position also reached its highest level since June 2021. It increased from 1,49 to 2,08 people.
The report revealed that jobs were advertised for an average of 39.5 days prior to being filled. This is compared with an average 35.8 day in the two months preceding October, and represents the longest period since September 2022.
Data also revealed a slight improvement on wage transparency, with 47.68% (compared to 46.34%) of advertised positions mentioning salary information. Adzuna says that although it represents less than half of all advertised roles, this is a positive step.
Subscribe to our weekly HR news and guidance
Every Wednesday, receive the Personnel Today Direct newsletter.
