New jobs indicator reveals cautious optimism for UK jobs market

A new monthly jobs indicator released today by Internet Association (@InternetAssn) shows an increase in the number of full and part time job postings online after a slump during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The new report echoes the findings from The Recruitment & Employment Federation yesterday that showed increased hiring activity among recruitment consultancies during September – suggesting a cautiously positive trend for job vacancies in the UK.

With the lockdown during the middle of 2020 causing many businesses to close their doors, the data show the impact on new job postings online during that time, with a dramatic fall during April through to June – particularly among part time roles. However, as the economy slowly reopens, August saw a 63 percent increase in full time job postings and an 85 percent increase in part time job postings. This continued to rise in September – suggesting a slow but gradual recovery of the jobs market.

And its brand new ‘online income tracker’ – identifying the amount of additional income being made by people online through, for example, selling products on platforms like Etsy or Ebay – shows that over a quarter of UK adults now use the internet to earn additional income online.

The new data, part of IA’s ‘Industry Indicators: Jobs (3i Jobs) Report’ series, presents monthly insights on the UK job market using data from national and internet-based resources. 

The report shows that after a slump during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, online job postings are up considerably despite the UK unemployment rate rising, offering some hope for those losing their jobs. Online job postings for full time positions are up 6.8 percent month over month in September, while part time positions are up 10.4 percent month over month. The three top postings for full time positions in September were Customer Assistant, Housekeeper and Warehouse Worker. The three top postings for part time positions were Retail Sales Associate, Customer Assistant and Order Picker.

It also shows that over a quarter of UK adults now use the internet to earn money online – with the most common amounts being around £10-20 per month, through to £100 a month. This is up from around a fifth of UK adults using the internet to earn money online in July, suggesting that people are beginning to use the increased flexibility of home working to earn additional income online. 

The number of people earning more than £250 per month in additional income online has also jumped according to this report. In January, 3 percent of online earners said they made more than £250 a month, but by September this had risen to 9 percent. People earning £100 a month also doubled, from 5 percent in January to 10 percent in September. 

IA UK Executive Director Daniel Dyball said:

“This new report shows how the internet is a vital tool to help people find work and create income in a variety of ways. Our inaugural report is cause for cautious optimism for the UK jobs market. It shows rapid growth in online job postings after a difficult period during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and a sizable increase in people earning money online.”