The rise of remote working
The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted the UK’s biggest growing industries but what has seen a rise is the number of people switching to remote work, as many organizations, especially within the digital industry, have encouraged or required their employees to work from home.
Thanks to ever-evolving technology such as Zoom, Slack and Microsoft Teams, many jobs were able to continue somewhat normally throughout lockdown.
Current circumstances aside, remote working is a key component of flexible working which helps companies attract the best talent, increase diversity of their employees, and improve employee well-being. In 2019, there were 19,183 remote jobs available. Compare this to 2020 and the figure has risen by 112%, with 41,563 vacancies offering remote working options, ranging from administrator to nurse and social worker as more roles than ever go remote to sustain the UK economy.
Biggest decrease in vacancies
Not surprisingly, the worst hit industry by Coronavirus is the travel sector. Before the pandemic, there were an average 642 travel agent vacancies listed. This has now dropped to just 85 a month, an 86% drop. Other industries affected include catering, retail and business roles.
| # | Job Title |
Average Vacancies September-March |
Average Vacancies April-August |
Percentage Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Travel Agent | 642 | 85 | -86.78% |
| #2 | Chef | 24,650 | 4,616 | -81.27% |
| #3 | Post Room | 403 | 79 | -80.29% |
| #4 | Telesales | 6,783 | 1,586 | -76.61% |
| #5 | Office Manager | 15,829 | 4,058 | -74.36% |
| #6 | Business Development Manager | 16,067 | 4,247 | -73.56% |
| #7 | Social Media Manager | 2,824 | 764 | -72.94% |
| #8 | Retail Manager | 7,850 | 2,157 | -72.52% |
| #9 | HR Manager/Director | 6,993 | 1,930 | -72.40% |
| #10 | Taxi Driver | 348 | 169 | -51% |
Jobs on the rise: Cleaners are more sought after than lawyers
Teachers, Care Workers and Lawyers will always be needed. However, the Coronavirus lockdown has taught us there is a whole new meaning to the word "essential" when it comes to workers.
The job titles with the highest demand of vacancies include Courier (188,590), Electricians (27,887), Cleaners (41,584) and Customer Service roles (96,261). As expected, Software Developers, Software Engineers, and IT Managers also feature highly.
| # | Job Title | No. of Monthly Vacancies |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Courier | 188,590 |
| #2 | Sales | 109,390 |
| #3 | Customer Services | 96,261 |
| #4 | Teacher | 54,740 |
| #5 | Project Manager | 54,515 |
| #6 | Cleaner | 41,584 |
| #7 | Government Worker | 37,289 |
| #8 | Mechanic | 30,756 |
| #9 | Electrician | 27,887 |
| #10 | Software Developer | 20,152 |
| #11 | Financial Manager | 19,810 |
| #12 | Architect | 12,938 |
| #13 | Software Engineer | 12,911 |
| #14 | Business Development Manager | 11,142 |
| #15 | Office Manager | 10,925 |
| #16 | Careworker | 10,268 |
| #17 | IT Manager | 10,026 |
| #18 | App Developer | 8,911 |
| #19 | Lawyer | 8,336 |
| #20 | Doctor | 7,314 |
These are the jobs with the lowest number of vacancies per month
In the current economic climate, naturally there are a lower amount of vacancies but while this may suggest there is a declining need for these roles, the report found there were roles which we couldn’t possibly live without - such as Mental Health Counsellors and Nurses.
Despite this, some of the job titles which seem less in-demand are a result of the current climate with many businesses forced to lighten operations due to the impact of Covid-19.
| # | Job Title | No. of Monthly Vacancies |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Traffic Warden | 54 |
| #2 | Mental Health Counsellor | 62 |
| #3 | Corporate Security Officer | 92 |
| #4 | Factory Worker | 97 |
| #5 | Florist | 132 |
| #6 | Information Security Analyst | 145 |
| #7 | Post Room | 269 |
| #8 | Massage Therapist | 337 |
| #9 | Civil Servant | 399 |
| #10 | Travel Agent | 410 |
| #11 | Taxi Driver | 500 |
| #12 | IT Admin | 684 |
| #13 | Cashier | 830 |
| #14 | Information Security Manager | 843 |
| #15 | Hairdresser | 865 |
| #16 | NHS Nursing | 910 |
| #17 | Carpenter | 1,236 |
| #18 | Journalist | 1,381 |
| #19 | Surgeon | 1,822 |
| #20 | Web Designer | 2,113 |
Increasing demand: A 671% surge in the number of mental health counsellors needed
With increased awareness and discussion of practising self-care and talking openly about mental health and wellbeing, vacancies for Mental Health Counsellors have risen a massive 671% in the past year. This is despite being one of the roles to have the lowest amount of monthly vacancies, as demand for the role is now rapidly increasing to what will be a completely different view next year.
Decreasing demand: The need for travel agents has decreased by 95%
From the ever-increasing to the jobs which are seemingly going out of fashion. Overall, there was a 43% decrease in the number of jobs advertised. Travel Agents are the ones who have been hit the hardest with a staggering 95% decrease following a lack of demand for the role as Covid-19 continues to disrupt the travel industry.
Facebook amongst the top 10 most-thriving companies
After analysing the number of vacancies advertised per month, some of the world's biggest companies made the top 10 list - including Apple, Google and Microsoft.
The Goldman Sachs Group came up top with 354 vacancies advertised per month. Coming in second is social networking powerhouse Facebook, followed closely behind by online food delivery company Deliveroo.
With the rapid shift to remote work this year, we're not surprised to see tech companies thriving, as the need for cloud collaboration has seen a surge in Office 365 user adoption around the world.
The future is digital: Tech jobs dominate the top 10 list of highest average salaries
We grow up knowing that some jobs are high in demand and have the salary to match – such as Doctors, Lawyers and Architects. However, it appears that the real money is in the digital world, with digital job titles making up half of the top 10 list.
Information Security Managers earn more than Doctors, with an average salary of £56,831 compared to the average salary of a Doctor at £54,024. Information Security Analysts bring home an average of £50,365 a year and Infrastructure Engineers can earn up to £47,831.
| # | Job Title | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Architect | £58,363 |
| #2 | Lawyer | £57,701 |
| #3 | Information Security Manager | £56,831 |
| #4 | Doctor | £54,024 |
| #5 | Software Engineer | £53,430 |
| #6 | Information Security Analyst | £50,365 |
| #7 | Software Developer | £50,095 |
| #8 | App Developer | £49,245 |
| #9 | Project Manager | £47,865 |
| #10 | Infrastructure Engineer | £47,831 |
These are the jobs with the lowest average salaries
Looking at the jobs which have the lowest average salaries, Traffic Wardens are in the unfortunate position of claiming top spot for the job which pays the least, offering an average salary of £18,575 a year.
Earning a little more each year are Corporate Security Officers, with their average salary coming in at £18,909.
| # | Job Title | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Architect | £58,363 |
| #2 | Lawyer | £57,701 |
| #3 | Information Security Manager | £56,831 |
| #4 | Doctor | £54,024 |
| #5 | Software Engineer | £53,430 |
| #6 | Information Security Analyst | £50,365 |
| #7 | Software Developer | £50,095 |
| #8 | App Developer | £49,245 |
| #9 | Project Manager | £47,865 |
| #10 | Infrastructure Engineer | £47,831 |
These job roles have the highest pay increase over the last year
When comparing the salary of job listings year-on-year, the biggest salary increase was for the role of Mental Health Counsellors, which has naturally experienced an increase in demand in 2020, with the salary almost doubling from £28,906 to £42,619.
Surgeons saw the second largest salary increase following a rise in demand, raising 17% from £52,368 to £61,334 which may be due to the location of job advertisements. Following closely behind with the third highest increase was the salary of System Administrators which increased by 12.7%.
| # | Job Title |
Average Salary Sep-Mar |
Average Salary Apr-Aug |
% Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Mental Health Counsellor | £28,906 | £42,619 | 47.4% |
| #2 | Surgeon | £52,368 | £61,334 | 17.1% |
| #3 | System Administrator | £35,598 | £40,131 | 12.7% |
| #4 | Sales | £31,612 | £35,090 | 11% |
| #5 | IT Manager | £41,514 | £45,961 | 10.7% |
| #6 | Systems Engineer | £45,103 | £49,133 | 8.9% |
| #7 | Business Development Manager | £39,225 | £42,693 | 8.8% |
| #8 | Office Manager | £33,706 | £36,494 | 8.2% |
| #9 | Van Driver | £22,773 | £24,649 | 8.2% |
| #10 | Financial Manager | £43,853 | £46,927 | 7% |
The salaries for these job titles decrease the most YoY
Where demand is low, a shift in salary may reflect that. Looking at the job titles whose salaries decrease the most YoY, Factory Workers saw their salaries drop 9% from £21,509 to £19,570.
The second largest decrease in salary, dropping 8% from £31,320 to £28,756, is the salary for Retail Managers. Claiming third place are Taxi Drivers.
| # | Job Title |
Average Salary Sep-Mar |
Average Salary Apr-Aug |
% Decrease |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Factory Worker | £21,509 | £19,570 | -9% |
| #2 | Retail Manager | £31,320 | £28,756 | -8.1% |
| #3 | Taxi Driver | £24,912 | £23,564 | -5.4% |
| #4 | Cleaner | £26,166 | £24,930 | -4.7% |
| #5 | NHS Nursing | £39,026 | £37,872 | -2.9% |
| #6 | Florist | £26,712 | £25,949 | -2.8% |
| #7 | Government Worker | £44,970 | £43,699 | -2.8% |
| #8 | Traffic Warden | £18,829 | £18,320 | -2.7% |
| #9 | Civil Servant | £42,330 | £41,477 | -2% |
| #10 | Web Designer | £42,809 | £42,046 | -1.7% |