According to the Office for National Statistics, more than a third of businesses have trouble filling jobs.
There are now 1.3 million job openings in the United Kingdom, which is the most since similar data collection began in 2001. Since the outbreak, the number of job openings has grown by 62%.
This is only the second time in history that there are as many job openings as unemployed people in the United Kingdom.
So, the IMF predicts that the United Kingdom will have the slowest growth among the G7’s wealthiest countries in 2023, at only 0.5%, compared to 2.3% in April.
Which sectors are struggling to fill jobs?
- Accommodation & food +107%
- Financial & Insurance +90%
- Information & communication +84%
- Professional, scientific & technical +79%
- Public administration & defence +77%
Why are businesses having trouble filling jobs?
Hospitality is the industry with the most job openings, but it needs young people to work as bartenders and waiters. The Institute for Employment Studies says that fewer young people are working because the population is getting smaller and more students are going to school full-time since the pandemic.
Since the pandemic, some older workers have left the job market and aren’t coming back.
It’s also possible that older people can’t go back to work because long-term health problems aren’t being treated because the NHS is too busy.
Also, Brexit has put legal barriers between businesses like hotels and a large pool of EU workers.
Over 8 million people out of a total population of 67 million are called “economically unviable.”
What can business owners do?
A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 44 percent of employers have to raise pay.
Still, some people aren’t bothered by the idea that small business owner-managers might have to pay their employees more. Many of these jobs are in the hotel, retail, and seasonal farming industries, which have all been called “McJobs” because they are not seen as meaningful careers. They say that small business owners have been able to get by for years by paying the bare minimum and relying on cheap labour from immigrants.
Laurence Turner, director of strategy and research for GMB, said on BBC’s Newsnight, “There has been a long period of slow wage growth. Firms can’t afford not to raise wages. This is a nettle that the government and employers will need to grasp.”
39% of businesses are retraining employees they already have to fill new jobs.
And 38% of companies are making it easier for people to switch jobs.
No one knows how long the current labour shortage will last. If some of the worst-case economic predictions come true, it’s possible that many of these job openings will disappear as companies go out of business.
