Skills shortage existed before Covid as talent gap continues to worsen

That’s according to the latest real-time statistics from the world’s largest network of job boards, Broadbean Technology.

The number of people applying for new roles declined by 47 per cent between July 2019 and July 2020, suggesting that the UK was already experiencing a shortfall of talent before the pandemic struck, although this certainly exacerbated the issue.

Demand for talent increased by over 100 per cent across engineering, financial services, and accountancy in the year to July 2021, which is unsurprising given the situation 12 months ago. However, when compared to 24 months ago, Broadbean’s data suggests talent gaps continue to worsen. When comparing data from various sectors between July 2019 to July 2021, vacancy numbers have dipped, but application numbers have tumbled at a much steeper rate.

Broadbean’s data shows that engineering vacancy numbers doubled (up 103 per cent) between July 2020 and July 2021. When we compare the latest data with July 2019, though, vacancies are down by 20 per cent, while the number of applications has decreased by 54. per cent.

Similarly, financial services saw vacancies double (104 per cent) between July 2020 and July 2021. For July 2019 to July 2020, vacancies dropped 12 per cent, while application numbers declined 57 per cent.

For accountancy, vacancies were up 104 per cent between July 2020 and July 2021, but down 31 per cent on 2019 figures, while application numbers from 2019 – 2021 also fell 56 per cent.

Looking specifically at this year’s most recent data, we see a 76 per cent annual increase in vacancies for IT professionals in July 2021, as the digital transformation of workforces continues to drive demand for this talent.

Alex Fourlis, MD at Broadbean Technology, said: “While there are ongoing reports of a post-Covid talent shortage, as the so called ‘Great Resignation’ impacts headcount and increases competition for talent, our data shows that the skills shortage was already well underway before the virus struck. Covid may have pushed the severe skills shortages the UK is facing into the public consciousness, but trouble was already bubbling under the surface in the early months of last year. Through analysing our historic data, we can assume that the current skills crisis is perhaps more severe than first thought. This can, in part, be linked to the impact of Brexit on talent pools.” and the need for an appropriate visa route for independent professionals to encourage people from outside the UK to work in the country.

“There are, of course, variations between sectors, with demand for IT professionals being particularly buoyant this year as businesses continue to invest in automation and digitisation. However, the overall picture remains clear: skills shortages have been brewing under the surface for some time, and the talent gap only seems to be widening.”