Following the uncertainty around the impact of Brexit there was much discussion in the media about the catastrophic and immediate impact on the jobs market, with some media outlets stating the total number of advertised jobs had been halved in the week following the referendum. 

However, the data coming out from all major job boards in the UK is telling a different story.  Reed.co.uk, CV-Library and most recently Adzuna, the UK's fastest growing search engine,  have all published data that shows the number of advertised jobs in the UK has increased since the decision to leave the EU was announced.  

In fact, the national competition for candidates is now at record levels with 0.5 job seekers available per vacancy highlighting the current chronic skills shortage that the UK faces. The UK currently has it's highest levels of employment, 74.4% of the working population, combine this with growing number of advertised vacancies and you have all the ingredients for a highly competitive labour market.  

Whilst much of the data coming out of recent weeks is showing significant slow down in many sectors, there has been no dramatic "fall off a cliff" type response in the labour market.  The UK went into the referendum in tight labour market conditions and the data is showing the situation is getting harder for employers to attract talent, not easier.  As the months go by, we'll learn more about the Brexit effect, but businesses should consider that the market is still very much candidate driven, and there would need to be some dramatic increases in unemployment over a short period of time to reverse this trend. 

Whilst there is a lot of positive news around the jobs market, there appears to be some negative impact on certain sectors and industries.  The service sector has seen a declines in the total number of vacancies, with a large percentage of this driven by the Finance industry, as expected, market and regulation uncertainty is causing many large financial institutions to scale back their permanent hiring plans as they wait to learn more about possible single market agreements.  

The new Government also faces the continued challenge of the North vs South divide in the UK economy,  whilst cities like Guildford maintain highly competitive labour markets, 0.09 job seekers per vacancy, cities like Sunderland continue to operate at the other end of the scale with 2.27 job seekers per vacancy.  In fact 9 of the top 10 worst cities for job seekers are in the north of the country, while 8 of the top 10 best cities being in the South.  

In conclusion, we are still learning about the potential impact Brexit will have on the jobs market in the long run, but the fear many had that we would see a catastrophic effect hasn't materialised. Recruiters should continue to operate as they would in highly competitive market conditions to attract the best talent for their organisations or clients.  

The graphs and some data in this blog were provided by Adzuna, the UK's fastest growing search engine.  You can download a copy of the full report here, and subscribe to receive monthly updates on the jobs market direct to your inbox.