COVID-19 Stifling Jobs Recovery – Accounts Navigator Associates

Accounts Navigator

Urban areas in Southern England have seen the biggest declines in job postings as vacancies have failed to return to pre-pandemic levels. The slow jobs recovery is linked to a “collapse” in the number of jobs in services being advertised.

London has had the sixth biggest fall in job postings at 52%, making the UK’s overall vacancies 46% behind last year’s levels.

The Chief Executive of Centre for Cities Think Tank has said that “this could have potentially catastrophic long-term consequences for people and the economy”.

The Think Tank has also revealed that the drop in hiring was particularly high in sectors exposed to COVID-19 restrictions – such as retail, arts, and leisure. They have added that working from home were restricting industries which depended on business from the High Street.

One of the hardest hit groups has been 16-24-year-olds, with 156,000 fewer being employed compared to 3 months ago, with the ONS saying this is because young people are more likely to be working in areas such as hotels, restaurants and tourism.

It is thought that due to the slow easing of the furlough scheme and employers being asked to pay a bigger proportion of their costs, many businesses have decided they cannot afford to start paying workers again.

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