New jobs data has revealed that Scotland is outperforming England when it comes to hiring activity. Job vacancies in Edinburgh and Glasgow have increased by 62% and 30% week-on-week, in contrast to falls reported in London, Manchester and Birmingham (-14%, -12% and -6% respectively).

Confidence in English suburbs well below Scotland
Data suggest that as lockdown measures ease, the confidence level of Scottish businesses is higher than those operating in English suburbs. This is despite the fact that the number of people in work in Scotland fell by 15,000 between April and June according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Top performing sectors
Looking specifically at sectors, Broadbean’s data shows notable differences in hiring activity in Scotland and England. North of the border, the Engineering, Management, Policy & Governance, and the Insurance & Finance arenas saw the highest vacancy growth (53%, 52% and 29% respectively). In contrast, the top performing sector in England was Hospitality which noted a 21% increase in job availability week-on-week, followed by Administration & Customer Service, and ICT (5% and 4% respectively).

Alex Fourlis, Managing Director at Broadbean Technology commente: “In recent weeks we started to see some really positive signs that England’s employment market was turning a corner, so these figures are somewhat disappointing. However, it is important to note that we often see a seasonal downturn in hiring levels towards the end of August so we are hopeful that we will once again see positive shoots emerge over the next few weeks as summer draws to a close.

“However, what’s very interesting about our data this week is the vacancy increases noted within England’s Hospitality sector. The impact Covid-19 has had on this sector has been profound – with many businesses effectively shutting down all together for several months during lockdown. Our data suggest that the tide is turning and, with much of the sector now open again and the Chancellor’s Eat Out To Help Out scheme in full swing, it would appear that companies in the sector have the confidence to hire once again.

*Figures from Broadbean Technology.