Employer confidence slowly picks up in engineering industry, as jobs and applications rise

Employer confidence started to pick back up in the engineering industry last month as lockdown restrictions eased, with job vacancies rising by 2.3% month-on-month, according to CV-Library, the UK independent job board. 

The study looks at job market data throughout May and compares this with figures from the previous month (April 2020) and year (May 2019), to build an understanding of how the UK labour market is really fairing right now.  

It reveals that applications for jobs in the engineering sector also rose by a steady 6.4% month-on-month. However, when looking at year-on-year data, the findings show that job vacancies are still 77.1% lower than a year ago, while applications to these roles are also down 18.6% year-on-year. 

Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of  CV-Library, comments: “As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, the market is starting to show signs of recovery and it’s promising to see job numbers picking back up. However, there’s still a long way to go and we cannot expect figures to return to normal overnight, especially when businesses are under a lot of financial pressure.” 

Alongside the above, CV-Library’s data shows that competition for engineering jobs is intensifying. In fact, when looking at the amount of applications per vacation, this figure has risen by a staggering 255.9% year-on-year (35.18 apps per vacancy in May 2020 compared to 9.89 in May 2019). 

Biggins continues: “The fact that there are less jobs being advertised than normal, and more professionals entering the job market, means competition for jobs is already beginning to intensify. This will put employers in a favourable position as the labour market continues to shift, but it’s important for companies across the industry to think seriously about their recruitment and retention efforts; especially when the furlough scheme does eventually come to an end.”