Jobs and applications by month

Applications in Q4 2023 picked up on Q3’s numbers and remained high in Q1 2024, with each month in the first quarter of the year achieving a higher rate of applications than the 2023 monthly average. Applications were highest in January – over 35% higher than 2023’s monthly average, proving that the new year, new job trend is still alive and kicking. February and March’s applications dipped from January’s figures but remained well over the 2023 monthly average.

Jobs took a different trajectory in February and March, with both months falling below the 2023 monthly average, but January’s figures of 18.6% above that average pulled the quarter up. This seems to back the general mood in the industry that jobs continue to be sluggish whilst candidate numbers remain high

Jobs and applications by quarter

Applications remained at a similar level to Q4 2023, which was the strongest quarter for applications that year. This suggests that candidate numbers are still high, especially in comparison to jobs. However, although it feels like jobs are dropping off, they were higher in Q1 2024 than both the previous quarters. At 2.8% over the 2023 quarterly average, the numbers aren’t headline-producing but January’s relatively high job posting figures have meant that the quarter has performed well for jobs compared to Q3 and Q4 of 2023.

Jobs and applications by industry

Education has taken the top spot for jobs posted for the second consecutive quarter, whilst going from second to fourth for applications received. This is indicative of the growing skills shortage in the sector that is causing real issues in schools and higher education facilities across the UK.

IT & Internet posted the second highest volume of jobs and received the second highest volume of applications. For years, the industry consistently outstripped all others when it came to both jobs and applications but to be comfortably second in both areas would suggest that supply is meeting demand.

No change for Health & Nursing as it posted the third highest percentage of jobs but doesn’t feature at all in the top 5 for applications. The industry has long suffered from a labour shortage and that doesn’t look set to change any time soon. Public Sector & Services faces similar challenges.

Manufacturing posted 7% of all jobs but received the greatest volume of applications, largely due to the widely publicised shrinking of the UK Manufacturing sector, leading to redundancies and hiring freezes.



Engineering & Utilities received the third highest percentage of applications but without the jobs to match demand from candidates and Property is experiencing similar issues.

Average application per job by industry

Given the high job to application ratio for Health & Nursing, Public Sector & Services and Education, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the industries received the 3 lowest average application per job figures. Health & Nursing received an average of just 1 application per job, Public Sector & Services 5, and Education 7. Compared to the general average of 17, they are incredibly low numbers.

Meanwhile, Banking received an average of 110 applications per job – a huge number that is likely reflective of cuts to the workforce of many global banks. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and, most recently, Deutsche Bank, have all announced job cuts over the past year. Morgan McKinley revealed that there were 79% fewer banking jobs in London in 2023 since Brexit.



Insurance and Retail & Wholesale also received high average numbers of applications per job – 86 and 84 respectively. Insurance is often seen as a safe industry to work in, especially during uncertain and turbulent times, which may be why there has been a rise in candidate activity. UK Retail jobs have been declining since the pandemic, with the convenience and value for money of online shopping rapidly taking over the sector as high street shops continue to fold.

Jobs and applications by channel

Job boards still reign supreme when it comes to job posting – 86% of all jobs are posted to job boards. Prices may have increased but job boards are proving their worth as they deliver a massive 88.7% of all applications.

Don’t dismiss websites though, as they produce nearly 10% of applications. With just 12.4% of jobs posted to websites, those applications could be far higher if more jobs were posted to websites.



Social media only accounts for 1.6% of posted jobs but 2% of applications – another platform that is underused and could be a valuable source of applications if more fully utilised.

Average application per job board

Niche job boards in in-demand industries continue to deliver high average numbers of applications per job, with jobs posted to IT-focused Jobserve receiving an average of 154 applications per job. Catering & Hospitality specialists Caterer.com received an average of 107 applications per job and Secretarial, Admin & PA-focused Secs in the City received an average of 58 applications per job.



In contrast, the generalist job board receiving the highest percentage of applications – Totaljobs – delivered an average of 36 applications per job. However, that number is still high compared to the overall average of 17, especially considering generalist job boards advertise a huge range of different types of jobs and industries. CV-Library and Reed.co.uk both received an average of 15 applications per job – less than half the numbers of Totaljobs.

Data and extracts taken from Wavetractr Quarter 1 2024 Recruitment trends report. Full report can be found at Recruitment Data Q1 2024 Recruitment Trends Report - Wave (wave-rs.co.uk)