Booming labour market across Northern cities and Scotland

Northern cities in England and Scotland are proving increasingly to be serious competition to London’s crown as the best city for UK talent.

Totaljobs has analysed job applications and adverts in the biggest cities in Northern England and Scotland to understand the health of the job market around the UK. The results show a clear boom in the jobs market in the North and Scotland.

Data from Totaljobs has shown that Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh have all seen growth in job applications in the last two years, showing talent is on the hunt for their next opportunity.

Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Sheffield have seen the greatest increase in job applications between 2016-2018 with a 41 per cent, 36 per cent, 14 per cent and 14 per cent increase respectively.

The rise in job applications has been accompanied by a growth in jobs advertised in the same period. Despite uncertainty in the UK, jobs in the North and Scotland are proving resilient.

Job applications in the biggest Northern cities have also increased in line with job vacancies, averaging a 17 per cent increase in these seven cities between 2016-2018. Edinburgh saw a particular surge of 80 per cent and Liverpool was the second biggest at 53 per cent. The most popular job sectors in the region include sales, transport and logistics and customer service.

The appeal of the North is not going unnoticed by workers in other parts of the UK. Totaljobs research has shown that 53 per cent of Londoners would relocate to a new city if it meant a better quality of life, compared to only 31 per cent of those in the North, showing Northerners are reaping the benefits of where they call home.

Martin Talbot, director at Totaljobs said: “While sometimes overlooked for the bright lights of London, Northern and Scottish cities are hotbeds for talent and opportunity. To celebrate these marvellous cities and highlight the thriving opportunities there, we’ve turned the traditional CV on its head. We’ve created ‘City CVs’ to showcase why jobseekers should consider a particular city when looking for their next job. Much like a candidate’s CV, the ‘City CVs’ make a case for ‘hiring’ a northern city.

“Many employers have already made the move North. HSBC moved its retail arm from London to Birmingham, Channel 4 opened its new headquarters in Leeds and Boohoo expanded their head office in Manchester.

“With the rise in vacancies outpacing applications, there’s a wide range of roles available for talent in the North – meaning employers need to ensure they stand out from the crowd when it comes to their employer brand and engage with candidates throughout the recruitment process.”

For jobseekers, increased awareness of what different northern cities have to offer can help them in their decision making if they’re unsure about where to make their next move. The CV also helps employers looking to attract new talent to their city making a strong case for the growing North.

With an increasingly mobile workforce, this ‘City CV’ project is also being rolled out beyond the North to showcase the benefits of hubs such as Birmingham, Bristol and of course London.