Key Points

  • Overall UK job postings rise to 50% above pre-pandemic levels.
  • Strong hiring in many of last year’s booming categories like cleaning, warehousing and hospitality.
  • Regional performance remains uneven with London lagging.

We regularly update this report to track the pandemic’s effects on the labour market. 

Job postings grew strongly in the latest four weeks, bringing overall volumes to a new post-pandemic high. Job postings were 50% above the 1 February 2020, pre-pandemic baseline, seasonally adjusted, as of 18 February 2022. That’s up from 39% four weeks previously, with hiring intentions having picked up after a soft patch around the turn of the year.

A line graph titled “Job postings on Indeed UK”
A line graph titled “Job postings on Indeed UK” showing the percentage change in job postings on Indeed UK since 01 Feb 2020, to 18 Feb 2022. There was a 50% change in UK job postings on a seasonally adjusted basis over the period.

Hiring picks up again in last year’s booming categories 

Occupations which were hiring in large volume after last spring’s reopening have seen notable upshifts in growth momentum after a soft start to 2022. Cleaning & sanitation and loading & stocking are also among the biggest gainers over the past four weeks and also stand furthest above pre-pandemic job posting levels.

At the other end of the table, beauty & wellness, legal and childcare job postings stand below pre-pandemic levels. 

Aviation has edged into positive territory, having seen one of the biggest improvements over the latest four weeks amid easing international travel and a jump in holiday bookings. 

Table titled “Cleaning and warehousing strength.”
Table titled “Cleaning and warehousing strength.” Indeed compared the percent change in UK job postings, between 01 February, 2020, and 18 February, 2022 across various occupations divided into sections “better than economy average,” “similar to economy average” and “worse than economy average”. The strongest performers were cleaning & sanitation and loading & stocking, while the weakest performers were beauty & wellness and legal.  

Hospitality hiring has also seen a bounce as omicron’s impact on the sector fades. Food preparation & service (which includes bar and restaurant jobs) saw a 32ppt gain in its job posting trend over the past four weeks, the largest among all categories we track.  

A line graph titled “Bar and restaurant hiring picks up” showing the percentage change in food preparation & service and hospitality & tourism job postings on Indeed UK since 01 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 18 Feb 2022. There was a 77% change in food preparation & service job postings on Indeed from 01 Feb 2020 to 18 Feb 2022.

North East retains lead 

The North East continues to have the strongest regional recovery, with job postings 80% above the pre-pandemic baseline. London remains at the foot of the regional rankings, with job postings up 35%. 

Bar graph titled “Job postings on Indeed UK.”
Bar graph titled “Job postings on Indeed UK.” This bar graph shows the percentage change in job postings on Indeed UK since 01 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 18 Feb 2022. The North East saw a 80% change, the largest, while London saw the lowest % change at 35%.

Variation in city performance

The strength of job posting recoveries continues to vary considerably at the level of cities and large towns. Plymouth, Middlesbrough and Wakefield are furthest above the pre-pandemic baseline. Aberdeen, Aldershot and Southend have the weakest job postings recoveries.  

As we discussed in a previous post, posting recovery has generally been stronger in cities with higher shares of manufacturing, distribution and public sector jobs, while areas reliant on travel and tourism and highly paid, white-collar, work-from-home jobs trail.

Table titled “Plymouth leads cities recovery.”
Table titled “Plymouth leads cities recovery.” This table shows the percentage change in job postings on Indeed UK since 01 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 18 Feb 2022. Plymouth saw a 94% change, the largest, while Aberdeen saw the lowest % change at 15%.

We host the underlying job-postings chart data on Github as downloadable CSV files. Typically, it will be updated with the latest data one day after this blog post was published.

Methodology

All figures in this blog post are the percentage change in seasonally-adjusted job postings since 1 February, 2020, using a seven-day trailing average. 1 February, 2020, is our pre-pandemic baseline. We seasonally adjust each series based on historical patterns in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Each series, including the national trend, occupational sectors, and sub-national geographies, is seasonally adjusted separately. We adopted this new methodology in January 2021. 

The number of job postings on Indeed.com, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit’s HR Technology segment.

*We looked at the relationship between job postings, clicks and wages in sectors experiencing the greatest hiring difficulties in a previous post.