UK jobs | Record fall in hiring as COVID-19 'wreaks havoc'

Hiring activity has fallen to a record low as many employers have imposed recruitment freezes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, new research has found.

KPMG and REC’s UK Report on Jobs pointed towards a fall in the number of permanent staff appointments and temp billings. This is the sharpest fall recorded in the survey’s 22-year history.

James Stewart, Vice Chair at KPMG, said the survey results illustrate how the coronavirus pandemic is continuing to “wreak havoc on the UK jobs market with a record drop in vacancies and recruitment plans frozen”.

“The uncertainty over the outlook is weighing heavily on the nation – we estimate that as many as 13million jobs are highly affected by the lockdown, representing just over a third of all jobs in the UK.