Brexit and the current UK Job Market

The UK job market continues to thrive despite the uncertainty of Brexit, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).  Salaries have been growing at a much faster rate than City economics had forecast and are at their highest since July 2008, outpacing inflation since March 2018.  This, combined with the lowest unemployment rate since 1974 at 3.8 per cent, and UK employers on an aggressive hunt for skilled talent to fill major skill gaps across the country makes it the optimum time to land yourself the perfect role with a fantastic salary to match.  

Matt Hughes, the ONS deputy head of labour market statistics says

Regular pay is growing at its fastest for nearly 11 years in cash terms, and its quickest for over three years after taking account of inflation. The labour market continues to be strong, with the employment rate still at a near-record high and unemployment down again. 

UK Skills shortages set to increase as a result of Brexit

Barely a week goes by without a story in the press about the skill shortages confounding the UK economy, and at the epicentre of the challenge is the huge gap between supply and demand for highly skilled workers, with employers across all areas of the economy struggling to fill prime positions.  

Migrate UK (a specialist immigration law firm) surveyed 1,000 human resource directors last year on the skill shortages in the UK.  The results indicated 66% were struggling to employ people with sufficient skills since the Brexit referendum, particularly within banking (86%), finance (83%) and IT (79%) sectors.  The survey highlighted that these shortages were resulting in an aggressive hunt for talent to fill major skill gaps across the country using lavish incentives to entice the best people for the job, including higher salaries, bigger bonuses, increased flexible working conditions and extra holidays. 

LinkedIn also ran a similar poll asking about the impact of Brexit over the past 12 months in which 65 per cent of the recruiters and HR said they had never found it so hard to find and hire qualified employees. More than half said they were raising salary offers to recruit the right people and 40 per cent said they were offering more flexible working conditions. 

Technology-focused roles in very high demand

Specialist recruiter Robert Half released figures for the top 10 in-demand roles for the second half of 2019 in July, with technology-focused roles like .NET developers (average salary bracket (£35,000-£46,500), digital marketing managers (£35,000-£55,000), IT project managers (£42,750-£77,500) and IT operations managers (£42,750-£65,000) all making the list.

Matt Weston, their UK managing director says 

Technology and digitalisation are accelerating the evolution of the workplace. As companies adjust to the challenges and opportunities this can have on their business, the need for the right skills intensifies the war for talent.

Despite uncertainty surrounding the UK’s decision to leave the European Union the annual Job Market Report by technology career site Dice showed that 78% of the 1,100 tech professionals surveyed were positive about their career prospects for the year ahead and a massive 62% of permanent IT staff expected their salary to rise, with 59% of contractors expecting the same.   Robert Half’s 2019 Salary Guide backs this up, which claims that job growth in the IT sector is five times that of the wider economy, and that remuneration levels continue to rise in tandem.  

Huge appetite for global talent

So as the booming UK job market continues to flourish with industry developments, and the prospect of Brexit bringing its challenges and in turn constant new opportunities, many hiring managers are finding they are faced with immediate and distinct sector-specific skill gaps.  Increasing competition for top talent is leading companies to focus on their global talent strategy to attract the brightest and best talent from around the globe, and they are absolutely willing to pay top wages to entice the best people for the job. Companies are recognising that bringing in staff with cultural diversity and international skillsets is giving teams access to a broader range of experience and is helping secure inward investment from multinational companies, who are increasingly using the UK as their base of operations for work around the world.  

It’s time to strike whilst the iron is hot

If you have the skills and the appetite for enhancing your career in the UK, you won’t find a better time to take the plunge!  Skilled Australian and New Zealand professionals are being given the pick of the best jobs, with the best salaries to match – which in turn is enabling them to have the most amazing OE’s, with more money in their pocket to travel and live in the UK and Europe.

If you or someone you know would like to make the most of these booming job market conditions, with your pick of the best jobs with a great rate of pay, then get in touch or join one of our Free Webinars in August to discuss just that.   Need help with starting a plan? Then why not download our free helpful handbook and build one.