by Alex Pearl
•
10 October 2023
10th October, 2023 Executive Summary In our Q3 2023 Recruitment Trends Report we detail jobs and applications data that reveals the state of the UK’s labour market in the third quarter. At a time when the news is full of headlines lamenting the poor state of the economy, we’re seeing an uplift in jobs and applications. Following a lull in activity in Q2, activity stepped up in Q3, with rises in both jobs and applications. This is largely thanks to an incredibly productive September, with huge uplifts in both candidate and recruiter activity, proving that the trend for a busy September in the world of recruitment continues, even in uncertain economic times. Q3 figures are also proof that the market is performing better than expected, despite continued inflationary pressures and a raft of doom and gloom news reports Snapshot Both jobs and applications are up on the previous quarter, with jobs up 7% compared to Q2 and applications up 9% on Q2. The average application per job is 14, a drop from Q2. IT & Internet dominate once again, posting the highest percentage of jobs and receiving the most applications. However, in both cases its percentage share dropped on the quarter. Most jobs were posted on Mondays and Tuesdays, with 21% being posted on each of the two days at the start of the week – this marks a change to the day of the week that most jobs have been posted over the previous two quarters (Wednesday). As most applications are received on a Monday, this correlates nicely. Recruitment and candidate activity really ramped up in September, as is the annual trend. It was the month that most jobs were posted in Q3 and far more applications were received in September than in any other month in Q3.