Business intelligence specialist Vacancysoft provided the data, which shows that new jobs were up 88.2% in January this year, compared to the same month last year, marking a new milestone for recruitment levels across the country.
A further finding was that real estate saw the greatest increase in recruitment across all sectors. Jobs in this sector increased by 184% year-on-year, likely due to the unprecedented interest in the Welsh housing market.
The research also showed that IT experts were in highest demand throughout Wales. Throughout the pandemic, recruiting for IT specialists was steady and accounted for 16.3% of all new vacancies across the country in 2021. Jobs in the engineering sector saw the greatest increase, with recruitment up 275.9% year-on-year.
These reported figures are in keeping with trends across the UK which continue to show record-breaking vacancy numbers online. With evident skills shortages across the country, the turbulent, candidate-driven market shows no signs of abating.
Ann Swain, CEO of APSCo, commented: “Despite Omicron threatening the UK’s economic recovery, Wales began 2022 with record-breaking recruitment levels, however, while the professional sectors are currently holding up well, skills shortages are evident across almost every specialism. The data suggests that recruitment demand will only continue to grow across Wales for the rest of this year and with experts such as IT professionals in high demand, but short supply, businesses will find sourcing the best talent becomes increasingly difficult.”
