Care roles, delivery driving and electricians are among some of the top-searched jobs that Brits have been looking for since lockdown was enforced, new research has found.
Research carried out by CV-Library identified a whopping increase in jobseeker interest for key worker roles, which also included store assistants, project managers and marketing managers.
Below are the top ten most searched for roles during this period of lockdown:
Carer +239.6%
Delivery Driver +150.6%
Driver +87.4%
HGV Driver +62.8%
Electrician +57.2%
Van Driver +47%
Plumber +40.6%
Store Assistant +30%
Project Manager +24.5%
Marketing Manager +14.5%
Lee Biggins, Founder and CEO of CV-Library, said it is clear that jobseekers are reacting to market demands and “searching for roles that they know are crucial right now; while searches for a number of office-based roles and other professions impacted by lockdown have dropped”.
He added: “We know that there will be a shift in the labour market over the coming months, whereby demand from candidates may outstrip the number of jobs available. Hopefully in the coming weeks there will be more clarity on the UK’s exit strategy from lockdown, so businesses can start thinking about their hiring efforts again.”
To compile this data, job searches made on CV-Library’s website between March 23 and April 23, 2020, were analysed and compared with findings for the four weeks leading up to lockdown (between February 20 and March 22, 2020).
CV-Library’s data also highlighted the industry sectors where jobseeker activity has increased, with driving-based roles seeing the biggest spike.
See the full list below:
Driving +173.4%
Construction +80.9%
Engineering +67.1%
Warehouse +59.1%
Procurement +21%
Manufacturing +20.4%
Finance +17.9%
Cleaning +13.7%
IT +4.5%
Marketing +1.7%
When looking at the job title searches that have plummeted during this period of lockdown, CV-Library revealed that ‘sales assistant’ searches fell by 50.9%, while ‘receptionist’ went down by 49.1% and ‘office manager’ fell by 43.6%.
These roles are largely office-based or face-to-face which is a possible reason for such a stark decline in job searches.
As would be expected, the data unearthed a 228% jump in the number of searches for home-based roles, with ‘work from home’ roles observing an 84% increase.
Biggins explained that a staggering number of Brits could be out of work due to the pandemic, therefore, job search figures are spiking.
While the economy is ‘uncertain’, some employers are ramping up UK hiring efforts amid the coronavirus lockdown due to increased trading.
A recent HR Grapevine report cited Microsoft, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Domino’s as some of the firms taking on more staff despite a “deep slowdown” in the UK jobs market which has seen a slump in the number of job vacancies since lockdown measures were enforced.
Recent Indeed data revealed that the industries and organisations relying on physical contact with consumers are said to have seen the biggest decline in job adverts.
Jack Kennedy, an Economist at Indeed, previously told Sky News that the jobs market has been on “rewind” since the Government ‘pressed pause’ on the economy due to COVID-19 fears.
"These numbers point towards the UK entering a deep slowdown and with millions of people furloughed or losing their jobs,” he explained.
