UK hospitality job market most affected by Covid-19 outbreak, study finds

UK job vacancies plummet 42% in the year to date as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, according to the latest research by job search engine Adzuna.co.uk.

The group said the hospitality and catering industry continues to be the “biggest casualty” in the UK job market, losing nearly three quarters (-74%) of vacancies due to closures across the country, a further 8% decrease from last week.

Globally, the hospitality and catering industry has also seen the biggest reduction in job vacancies (-49%), down 15% on last week.

Other industries which have been heavily impacted in the UK include energy (-66%), admin (-63%), travel (-61%) and HR and recruitment (-61%).

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: “The economy has been hugely impacted by the measures to control the spread of the virus in recent weeks. The UK has lost a staggering 42% of vacancies over an eight week period.

“This is another blow for the UK, which is predicted to see unemployment sour by more than two million and the economy shrink by 35% according to the Office for Budget Responsibility”.

He added: “We are continuing to see vacancies in the hospitality industry decline and it’s no surprise, with the lockdown measures set to still be in place for the foreseeable future, that this figure will continue to decrease.

“Interestingly the UK reduction in hospitality vacancies is significantly higher than we are seeing in neighbouring countries, however, this is reflective of the different phases of the pandemic each country is in at this time and we anticipate other countries will see a similar impact.”