Furlough survey highlights shift to a candidate led market as UK professionals remain confident and are unfazed by the end of scheme

On the day the Government furlough scheme ends, the latest survey from the UK’s leading job board, CV-Library (@CVLibrary)  highlights the true extent of shift in the job market. Since easing out of lockdown restrictions, job postings in the UK have reached a record high and skills shortages have become apparent across many sectors, creating a candidate led market. 

Ever since the furlough scheme began in April 2020 many have feared the consequences once it ended. However, the survey reveals that the overwhelming majority of UK workers, (82%) aren’t personally concerned about the scheme ending and a further 73.9% aren’t concerned that the end scheme will impact the business they work for. Interestingly, a whopping 74.6% also report that they won’t be put off looking for a new job in October and aren’t fearful of any increased competition for roles.  

In fact, 63.6% of the 1500 UK professionals who responded, don’t feel they’ll be impacted in any way at all by the end of the end of the furlough scheme. Of those that did have concerns about the scheme ending, the top 5 were as follows: 

1. Fear of an increased workload 

2. Worry that colleagues will now leave 

3. Anxiety that they’ll now feel trapped in their role  

4. An expectation that the company they work for will be worse off 

5. Concerned about a decreased workload 

Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library comments: 

“Only time will tell what the true impact of the end of the furlough scheme will be. What we can be sure of, is that a huge period of adjustment lays ahead for those returning to work and businesses will need to balance their profit margins with new consideration. As for any redundancies that will now arise, it would be naive to think that the record number of job vacancies in the UK right now are the simple solution, not with the huge skills shortages across such a breadth of sectors.” 

Biggins continues: 

“The fact job losses didn’t make the top 5 list of concerns for UK professionals, shows the extent of the market swing in candidates’ favour. It’s good to know that the Great British spirit is alive and well. The feeling of optimism and determination from employees can only be a positive thing, both for the UK economy and its workforce.”