The coronavirus pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on businesses all over the globe, and the UK certainly hasn’t escaped unscathed. Many employers have been forced, by circumstances outside of their control, to make redundancies or – at the very least – put hiring on hold.

New data from LinkedIn’s Workforce Report, however, shows that things may be heading in a more positive direction: between September and October, hiring increased by almost 6%. It’s worth noting that it was still about 10% below last year’s levels, but hiring is gradually rebounding and currently stands at its highest point since Covid-19 started to impact the nation back in March.

Right before the latest lockdown was implemented on 5 November, hiring in the UK briefly climbed above last year’s level before dipping again.

A hiring boom

It perhaps comes as no surprise that a few industries have actually been at the centre of a hiring boom. For example, in October the hiring rate in the healthcare and transport and logistics industries were 20% and 14% higher, respectively, than at the same point in 2019.

Looking at shifts in recruiting from September to October, our data shows that certain white-collar industries are back to building their headcounts. In the legal sector, for example, hiring was 42% higher in October than September, in media and communications it was 41% higher and in finance it was up 24%.

Richard Johnson, who specialises in financial services recruitment at staffing firm Robert Walters, said he’s not surprised by the findings. He explained that, earlier in the year, many firms in the sector put their hiring plans on hold and took advantage of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, placing staff on furlough.

“As we began to come out of the furlough scheme, companies then began to execute their 2020 hiring plans, hence the increase,” he added.

Johnson said there has been a shift in the type of roles on offer since the pandemic hit and he’s seen a “sharp need” for those specialising in regulatory, treasury, financial planning and analysis roles. He went on to say things are looking positive for recruitment in the financial services sector in 2021 and believes the year will get off to a strong start.

“I would expect hiring to increase throughout the year. Initial month-on-month figures are likely to be high as firms who have not hired [in this quarter] begin to do so. The month-on-month figures will of course reduce over time, but still remain in an upward trajectory.”