UK Online Recruitment Shows Seasonal Decline in January according to the Monster Employment Index
Significant Dips in the Banking, Finance, Insurance; and Legal Sectors
Online Job Opportunities Decrease in All UK Regions
London, February 12, 2008 Online hiring in the UK dropped considerably in January, as the Monster Employment Index dipped by 14 points, following two months of solid growth. The Monster Employment Index UK is a monthly analysis of millions of online job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards across Europe, including Monster.co.uk.
The Index fell to a level of 160 points in January, due in part to sizeable decreases in online job availability in the banking, finance, insurance; and legal sectors. The Index also showed a fall in demand for the majority of occupational groups, with the exception of craft and related workers; and skilled agricultural and fishery workers. Overall, the Index is up 39 points, or 32 percent, compared to January 2007.
"The fall in online job opportunities in the UK in January was primarily seasonal in fact, a similar trend was seen in January in each of the past three years, said Julian Acquari, managing director of Monster UK and Ireland. "Although there are signs that employers in select industries such as finance and accounting have scaled back on their recruiting following the turmoil in global credit markets, the underlying demand for labour remained strong in the UK job market at the onset of the new year.
Monster Employment Index UK results over the past 13 months are as follows:
Jan Dec-07 Nov-07 Oct-07 Sep-07 Aug-07 Jul-07 Jun-07 May-07 Apr-07 Mar-07 Feb-07 Jan-07
160 174 169 160 162 167 165 170 162 141 150 140 121
Online Demand in the Banking, Finance, Insurance; and Legal Sectors Dips Sharply in January
A significant decrease in online job availability in the banking, finance, insurance sector was a key factor in the Indexs dip in January. Opportunities for technicians and associate professionals dropped the most, reversing the growth experienced in December. Demand for professionals also slowed. Job hiring in this sector fell in all UK regions, with the biggest dip in the Midlands.
Opportunities in the legal sector were markedly reduced in January, having previously increased for two successive months. Job availability decreased most for professionals. Regionally, Scotland registered the sharpest decline and hiring slowed in London for the second month in a row. Demand increased in Northern Ireland and East Anglia.
In contrast, online recruitment for management and consulting grew in January for the third consecutive month. The main increase was in opportunities for technicians and associate professionals, while there was a decrease in hiring of legislators, senior officials and managers. Regionally, the Midlands showed the highest rate of increase. Year-on-year growth in this sector was 54 percent.
Production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair also increased in January after a dip in December. Online opportunities grew for professionals; technicians and associate professionals; and craft and related workers.
Industry Jan08 Dec07 Nov07 Oct07 Sep07 Aug07 Jul 07 Jun 07 May 07 Apr 07 Mar 07 Feb 07 Jan 07
Accounting 118 122 111 113 119 123 121 122 121 106 129 124 125
,audit, taxes
Administrative, 182 199 192 204 188 195 181 209 205 184 196 179 134
organisation
Arts, 182 201 195 163 180 172 137 131 135 132 161 137 124
entertainment,
sports,
leisure
Banking, 152 178 157 177 149 158 173 210 193 187 202 182 146
finance,
insurance
Construction 156 161 176 163 147 153 146 141 146 138 138 134 124
and extraction
Education, 167 192 192 166 141 139 152 143 142 130 129 128 105
training
and library
Engineering 166 180 177 161 153 165 160 147 149 141 142 137 123
Environment, 195 218 203 203 163 175 169 155 157 164 157 148 118
architecture
and urbanism
Healthcare, 156 176 196 182 177 183 182 171 184 162 149 156 121
social work
Hospitality 130 133 139 144 134 131 141 140 151 112 139 113 117
and tourism
HR 193 201 196 189 193 200 187 183 199 195 194 182 157
IT 130 127 125 114 117 124 132 125 124 108 118 114 105
Legal 204 229 210 185 186 195 201 248 215 195 248 217 181
Management 200 192 184 178 186 185 177 198 163 156 157 154 130
and consulting
Marketing, 209 221 198 185 178 185 181 186 175 171 177 154 124
PR and media
Production, 114 109 112 107 112 114 113 106 105 98 99 97 99
manufacturing,
maintenance,
Repair
Public Sector, 98 102 107 102 100 99 101 96 102 97 98 99 98
defence,
community
Research
and development 146 143 136 134 145 142 129 141 129 123 129 125 96
Sales 129 142 141 136 173 171 170 179 158 119 123 117 107
Telecommunication 110 120 134 122 116 119 119 123 125 117 120 122 101
Transport, 136 149 140 139 143 142 133 127 129 118 115 110 98
post and logistics
Online Demand for Legislators, Senior Officials and Managers; and Technicians and Associate Professionals Falls in January
Online job availability for legislators, senior officials and managers dropped for the second month in a row in January. The most significant declines were in IT; construction and extraction; and sales. Demand declined in all regions, with North England showing the biggest dip. Hiring fell in East Anglia, the Midlands and the South East for the second consecutive month.
The technicians and associate professionals category fell by 15 points in January following strong growth in December. Online job offerings decreased mainly in administrative, organisation; and banking, insurance and finance. However, there was growth in management and consulting; and production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair. Demand fell in Wales for the second straight month.
Skilled agricultural and fishery workers experienced the most significant increase in January, growing by 27 points following a drop in demand in December. This growth was mainly due to increased opportunities in the South West and Wales. Year-on-year growth in this occupational group was 64 percent.
Demand for craft and related workers also increased following growth in opportunities in production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair. Regionally, the Midlands, North England and the South East registered the highest rates of increase while hiring dipped in London for the second consecutive month.
Occupation Group Jan08 Dec07 Nov07 Oct07 Sept 07 Aug 07 Jul 07 Jun 07 May 07 Apr 07 Mar 07 Feb 07 Jan 07
Legislators, 133 148 148 142 167 166 164 168 148 115 120 110 101
senior officials
and managers
Professionals 173 185 178 165 168 174 178 180 170 148 161 152 131
Technicians 150 165 150 153 144 151 150 164 161 150 160 149 126
and associate
professionals
Clerks 141 146 158 148 157 157 137 136 147 129 129 124 106
Service workers 132 145 147 143 138 140 143 142 159 121 141 119 120
and shop
and market
sales workers
Skilled 187 160 190 153 158 137 141 147 165 154 126 130 114
agricultural and
fishery workers
Craft and 299 292 294 257 297 299 272 246 245 225 213 218 176
related workers
Plant and 113 114 161 129 114 113 115 112 115 114 114 115 111
machine operators
and assemblers
Elementary 119 121 89 88 87 87 87 101 116 113 116 110 111
occupations
Online Recruitment Drops in All UK Regions
Online hiring decreased across all regions in the UK in January. The South West experienced the biggest fall, following two months of significant growth. The sharpest decline in the region was in the environment, architecture and urbanism sector; by contrast, demand rose in the IT; and research and development industries. There was also lower demand in January for service workers and shop and market sales workers while job availability grew strongly for skilled agricultural and fishery workers. Despite this dip, year-on-year growth for the South West stands at an unrivalled 102 percent.
North England also declined considerably, despite two months of steady growth. There were major decreases in online demand in the banking, insurance, finance; healthcare, social work; education, training and library; and legal sectors.
Region Jan08 Dec07 Nov07 Oct 07 Sept 07 Aug 07 Jul 07 Jun 07 May 07 Apr 07 Mar 07 Feb 07 Jan 07
Midlands 168 183 177 172 170 176 171 168 170 151 162 157 126
North England 168 187 183 171 172 178 168 176 177 156 164 156 148
London 142 147 146 140 142 145 144 150 142 131 139 133 115
South East 126 132 132 127 127 128 129 135 129 119 123 119 110
South West 264 286 264 250 266 281 266 221 226 180 179 163 131
Wales 231 232 207 209 213 220 211 216 211 172 178 173 177
Scotland 147 160 142 146 156 161 162 150 153 135 141 122 162
East Anglia 164 172 163 159 166 174 177 175 167 162 177 168 139
Northern Ireland 149 166 135 137 151 129 142 146 140 132 129 143 128
Monster Employment Index UK data for February will be released on March 11, 2008.
