Following several months of plateauing applications, recruiters everywhere will be breathing a sigh of relief that the WaveTrackR September 2022 Recruitment Trends Report shows that they are finally increasing.
Jobs continue to increase, though only by 3% on August compared to August’s 18% increase on July. Applications increased by 8% month-on-month, which will be welcome news following the 0% increase in applications in August.
The average number of applications per job remains unchanged from August at 13.
For the fifth consecutive month, IT & Internet both posted the highest percentage of jobs and received the largest number of applications, proving the industry continues to thrive.
Thursday was the most active day in September – it was the day most jobs were posted as well as being the day the majority of applications were received.
Jobs in September were 6% above the 2021 monthly average. It’s the third month in a row they have risen following plummeting numbers in July. It may only equate to a 3% increase from August but in a market where businesses are treading carefully due to hikes in a multitude of costs, any rise is positive.
Applications rose more significantly. At 35% above the 2021 monthly average and following two months of plateauing figures, applications are on the up again. The past few months have been fairly slow for many industries so heightened candidate activity is extremely positive.
IT & Internet was yet again the most active industry, posting the highest percentage of jobs and receiving the greatest share of applications. Education increased its share of jobs posted, from 11% in August to 18% in September, and also features in the top 5 industries for applications. Manufacturing increased its job posting in September, more closely matching its jobs to its share of applications.
Health & Nursing and Public Sector, however, continue to post a high percentage of jobs but without the application numbers to fill those vacancies.
Engineering and Secretarial, PAs & Admin both experienced the opposite challenge, receiving a high number of applications but not making it into the top 5 for jobs.
At an average of 39 applications per job, Retail & Wholesale was inundated with applications compared to the general average of 13. Two financial services industries (which often receive a high average number of applications per job) – Finance and Insurance also received high average numbers, as did Customer Services which led the board in August. Given the high number of applications received by Secretarial, PAs & Admin compared to the number of jobs the industry posted, it is perhaps unsurprising that it is also in the top 5 here.
Four of the five industries on the other end of the scale are unchanged from August – Health & Nursing, Not for Profit & Charities, Public Sector and Education all received an average of less than 6 applications per job. Catering & Hospitality, which has faced severe skills shortages since the pandemic, received an average of 7 applications per job – 6 under the average for all industries.
Secs in the City again takes the top spot for receiving the highest average number of applications per job of any job board – a huge 20. With an average of 15 applications per job, Totaljobs jumped to second position, placing it in the top spot amongst the generic job boards. IT specialist CW Jobs took just 1 fewer, at 14, and new entry JobServe provided recruiters with an average of 12 applications per job. Caterer and Reed took the other top spots.
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