As uncertainty looms over the UK economy, businesses were forced to hike up their pay in August, in a bid to combat a typically tricky period for hiring. In fact, the latest job market data from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, reveals that salaries for new roles have risen by a staggering 37.8% year-on-year.
The findings, which analyse job market data from August 2019 with the same period in 2018, also reveal that certain regions across the UK witnessed even bigger surges in pay, including the North East (up 80.1%), the South East (63.8%), the South West (60.7%), the East of England (34.9%), and the East Midlands (34.3%).
What’s more, the data also reveals that there were 2.2% more jobs on offer in August compared to last year, with the biggest jumps witnessed in Glasgow (26.7%), Brighton (11.9%) and Southampton (11.5%). Conversely, the biggest drop in job vacancies were seen in Newcastle (down 11.2%), Leicester (down 11.1%) and Birmingham (down 5.1%).
Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, comments: “Given the busy holiday season, August is a notoriously tricky time to hire, so it’s clear that employers are feeling the pressure to pull out all the stops when it comes to pay and attempt to attract the best talent to their roles.
“In reality, times are tough for businesses right now and we cannot view these dramatic salary increases as an improvement in the UK job market. At the same time, while there are more jobs on offer than a year ago, we know that there is a storm on the horizon in the form of Brexit, which is leaving many organisations facing a huge sense of economic uncertainty.”
Interestingly, the data also shows that applications are up by 10.2% year-on-year, suggesting that many UK job hunters are making the most of booming pay. Indeed, applications increased the most in the South East (15.2%), the East of England (12.5%) and the South West (10.9%).
Biggins continues: “While applications are up right now, we know that the national employment rate is at an all-time high and many employers are still struggling to fill their roles. There is still an evident skills shortage in the UK, which has clearly resulted in a huge jump in pay. For now, we’ll need to sit patiently and wait to see what happens with parliament in the coming weeks.”
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