June 2023 market overview: commerce and industry
Across the UK’s commerce and industry sectors, we’ve pulled together all the live vacancies we’ve had in June 2023 across London, Home Counties, West Midlands and South West England.
Employed candidates are seeking new exciting opportunities
June brings us to the end of the first half of 2023. This year has certainly been a rollercoaster of ups and downs in the HR market so far across the commerce and industry sectors in London and across the UK.
We have started to see some really positive steps in the market during June. Confidence in hiring is slowly returning after a cooling-down period and most importantly, employed candidates looking for work are keen to further their career and seek exciting new opportunities. This all brings incredible talent into the market.
“We saw a 13% increase in vacancies from April to May followed by a 38% increase between May and June.”
June again saw an increase in the number of roles across Frazer Jones in London and the UK. We saw a 13% increase in vacancies from April to May followed by a 38% increase between May and June – showing month-on-month growth.
High volumes of vacancies echo increased hiring across sectors
Interestingly, there has been an uplift in the non-profit sector, but also a strong rise in roles across luxury brands, engineering, manufacturing, telecommunications and technology.
For several months, we have seen consistently high volumes across the majority of these sectors, so it is good to witness consistent hiring across these sectors. The roles coming in during June will probably take anything from six to 12 weeks to turn around depending on the level and complexity of the role.
21% of HR roles secured in June were in the engineering sector. There was a fairly even split across many other sectors including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and consumer, manufacturing, technology, media, healthcare and education.
“In June, 46% of hires were generalist roles.”
This year, we have kept track of the specialisms of those roles. In June, 46% of hires were generalists. Payroll plus reward and benefits retained 17% of the market share. HRIS and analytics and talent acquisition (TA) take up 8% and HR operations retain 4%. Considering the typical proportion of HR teams, these splits are expected and have been pretty consistent during the year.
Hiring processes are longer than before
Although hiring is picking up this month, companies are taking longer than usual to schedule interviews and want to see higher volumes of candidates at each interview stage. This means the length of hiring processes typically adds a further two to six weeks.
Although there is strong talent in the market, these candidates aren’t necessarily hanging around and are being put off by the long processes – so if you are recruiting this is certainly something to consider.
It’s good news that the market has seen a turn this last month and vacancy volumes are looking positive going into the second half of the year.
“If you are looking for work, these next few weeks are the perfect time to update your CV.”
This is a good time to consider hiring if you are keen to have new starters at the end of 2023 or early 2024, taking into consideration a two-month selection/interview process and typical three-month notice. Now is the time to push the button ahead of your competitors, as most tend to wait until after the summer and compete with others on securing top talent.
If you’re looking for work, these next few weeks are the perfect time to update your CV over the usual quieter summer. Be ready to share your skills with potential employers.
We have already heard a lot of talk about hiring in the next month or two from clients – but we also need to be aware of impending holidays. So, we advise getting organised sooner rather than later to beat the cyclical post-summer spike.
Please complete our form below if you are looking to progress your career, or if you’re considering a new hire in your HR team and would like expert advice on the market and the talent available.
