Key industries across the country are facing a vacancy crisis as more workers are desperately needed to fill roles, figures show.
As Nottinghamshire Live reports, there were 1.66 million active UK job advertisements in the week of August 23-29 according to Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC)’s Jobs Recovery Tracker.
The number of vacancies being posted has remained worryingly high since the beginning of June, with the last five weeks having seen the highest weekly figures in job adverts since mid-December last year.
Last week alone, there were 193,000 new job postings.
The demand for workers is a pressing matter for many sectors, as industries continue to struggle with employee shortages and companies fighting to recruit.
Neil Carberry, chief executive of the REC, said: “Demand for workers remains very high across the economy and shows no signs of weakening. With businesses in the particularly squeezed food, logistics and hospitality sectors starting to gear up for Christmas, the months ahead could be difficult – even with a large number of people coming off furlough in August and September.
“It is worth remembering that some of this could be short-term. Large numbers of people are finding new work post-pandemic as the economy reshapes.
"But that realignment will take time, and there is good evidence to suggest that the market will remain tight for some years to come, even if the current crisis passes."
These are the 10 occupations where, according to the REC and industry data, worker shortages are among the most acute:
• HGV drivers - 100,000+
• Nurses - 79,123
• Programmers and software development professionals - 68,929
• Care workers and home carers - 49,751
• Primary and nursery education teaching professionals - 30,574
• Chefs - 29,996
• Sales and retail assistants - 26,183
• Cleaners & domestics - 24,148
• Metal working production and maintenance fitters - 19,748
• Carpenters and joiners - 6,364
Sky News reports the Road Haulage Association has consistently argued that HGV drivers should be included in the scheme as vacancies have risen from a pre-COVID level of 60,000 to beyond 100,000 - threatening wider distribution disruption as the key Christmas season approaches.
The jobs covered by the government's approved list currently include all health professionals, vets, architects, engineers, scientists and even orchestral musicians.
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