Number of job vacancies in the UK 2001-2023

In the three months to April 2023, there were approximately 1.08 million job vacancies in the UK, compared with 1.14 million in the previous month. The number of job vacancies in the United Kingdom reached a record high of 1.3 million in the three months to May 2022, with the number of vacancies falling in every month since then. Although job vacancies have been falling consistently since the May 2022 peak, vacancies are still at very high levels. During the provided time period, the number of job vacancies reached its lowest levels in the months leading to June 2020, at just 326,000, at the height of COVID-19 restrictions.

Tight labor market shows signs of loosening in 2023

After weathering the economic storm of COVID-19, the UK labor market has been reasonably healthy since 2021. The unemployment rate, which reached 5.1 percent in late 2020 fell in the following months, to a post-pandemic low of 3.5 percent by August 2022. In early 2023, however, the unemployment rate has crept up slightly, reaching 3.9 percent by March. Resignations have also began to decline, after reaching a peak of 442,000 in the second quarter of 2022 they numbered 322,000 in the first quarter of 2023. Compared with pre-pandemic resignation figures, this was still quite high, and a sign that the 'Great Resignation' may still be ongoing.

Which industries are experiencing staff shortages?

The percentage of businesses reporting a staff shortage in the UK reached 15.7 percent in September 2022, before falling to 11.5 percent by December 2022, another indication of change in the labor market. According to data from January 2023, approximately 1 in 4 UK businesses in the accommodation and food services had a shortage of staff, the highest of any sector. This was followed by manufacturing, which had 17.4 percent of businesses reporting a shortage, and human health and social work at 15.1 percent. This caused real problem for the UK over the 2022/23 winter, with NHS staff shortages one of the UK's most severe challenges.