A sea of uncertainty for economic leaders
There are some optimistic aspects from the latest official figures released yesterday by the Office of National Statistics (ONS). However, we are faced with a degree of uncertainty for the coming weeks.
This is primarily due to the swiftly advancing spread of the Omicron variant, which is already affecting crucial sectors.
The latest advice within Scotland encourages the public to reconsider attending Christmas work parties which has triggered an overwhelming number of cancellations for the hospitality industry.
Key sectors being strongly affected this Christmas
Current figures show that in the three months leading up to November, there were 176,000 job adverts across Scotland and these vacancies have continued to rise, although this has significantly slowed down compared to earlier in the year. However, there were still approximately 26,000 more jobs across Scotland than there were pre-pandemic.
With new restrictions on their way and the increasing cancellation of festive celebrations, the Omicron variant is inevitably making a huge impact on key sectors which usually increase their staff at this time of the year.
By tradition, catering, hospitality, and retail are the key industry leaders at this time of year, and they have been feeding the increase in part-time workers that we saw in the latest ONS publication. These part-time vacancies have been crucial in ensuring healthy levels of employment within Scotland since the end of the furlough scheme at the end of September.
Current rates in Scotland
The unemployment rate in Scotland was 4.1%, which is a promising comparison with 4.3% from the previous quarter and was marginally lower than the overall UK’s 4.2%.
Speaking in today’s Herald, s1jobs Commercial Director, Gavin Mochan, said: “Current hiring data is more indicative of the impact Omicron is having on the labour market, and it shows that the number of jobs becoming available in the catering and hospitality and retail sectors have continued to tumble in December. This is particularly worrying because this is traditionally a time when employment rises in those sectors because of seasonal demand.”
The hiring demand within the catering and hospitality sectors was down by 19% in the first two weeks of December compared with the previous two weeks, while the retail sector declined by 23%.
The Omicron variant outbreak is predicted to last in Scotland until March, meaning the effects will be felt over the festive period and into 2022.
Search thousands of vacancies across all sectors now.
You can read the full analysis by s1jobs on the Herald website.