IT sector created over 1M jobs in 2012, says Adzuna’s Jobs Review of the Year

IT has been the top hiring sector of 2012, creating 1.1 million advertised job vacancies, while the Engineering sector look set to grow in 2013, according to the latest research from job search website Adzuna.co.uk. The UK has been awash with demand for accountants and software developers, while London, Aberdeen and Stevenage top the list for best paying cities.

The study conducted by Adzuna analysed it’s comprehensive search index of over 500,000 job vacancies to reveal IT, Engineering and Finance job sectors have been the most buoyant in 2012 with average salaries increasing by 6% over the past 6 months, while the Maintenance and Domestic Cleaning sectors have seen the least jobs created.

The average annual pay for iPhone Developers (+25%), Financial Advisors (+22%) and Translators (+17%) have shot up in 2012 reflecting demand levels for specific skills sets in the UK job market. Technology roles have seen the biggest wage jumps this year of all sectors.  

Clear pockets of strength have emerged in the UK job market in 2012 with Aberdeen, Guildford and Cambridge leading the pack. Jobseekers should head to Aberdeen for the lowest competition (0.5 jobseekers per vacancy) and the highest average salaries of £37,670p.a. Hull has been the most difficult place to find a job this year with an average rate of 55 jobseekers per vacancy.

Despite economic downturn, the UK employment market has been resilient. London has led the pack in job creation and remains the best paying city in 2012 with an average salary of £41,369 p.a. whereas Preston is the worst paying with £25,718 p.a.

The top employer this year was the London 2012 Olympic Games (LOCOG) creating around 100,000 jobs this year (although most of them were temporary). British supermarket chains have also topped the job creation charts with Tesco, Morrisons and Asda creating around 31,000 new jobs between them. Other top employers included The Royal Mail, NHS, Deloitte and Ryan Air.

2013 Outlook

• The number of jobseekers for every job in the UK looks set to continue to fall in the first half of 2013 (to 3.1 jobseekers for every job), but this will be largely down to the number of part time jobs in the market.
• The Part-Time sector has bolstered UK unemployment levels in the latter half of 2012 and, if the pattern continues, the number of part time jobs available in the UK will increase by 4% in Q1 2013.
• Engineering and Energy & Oil sectors look set to perform well in 2013 across the UK with the number of jobs advertised projected to increase by 5% in Q1
• The job opportunity North / South divide doesn’t look like it will improve in 2013. Cities like Hull, Sunderland and Bradford will become increasingly competitive.
• While manufacturing job stock has stagnated at a UK level in 2012, Q4 saw this sector performing well in the East Midlands. If the pattern continues, the number of manufacturing jobs will grow by up to 10% in this part of the county next year.
• North East and North West regions will witness 4.5% growth for Engineering and Energy industries.
• Regions heavily dependent on the public sector such as Northern Ireland and Scotland are likely to be worst affected by jobs cuts and pay freezes in 2013.

Andrew Hunter, Co-Founder of Adzuna, said “Because we list nearly every UK job ad in our search engine, we’re able to see how the employment market is performing right across the country. Based on the 2012 data, we expect unemployment to continue to fall in 2013 with technology & engineering sectors performing the strongest in the first half of the year.”

Top Hiring Sectors in 2012:

Boom and Bust Jobs in 2012: 

2012 Boom:

2012 Bust:

Best Cities to Find a Job in 2012

Worst Cities to Find a Job in 2012

Best Paying Cities in 2012

Worst Paying Cities in 2012

Top paying employers in 2012 (Avg. Salary vs. Sector Average)
 

Top Hiring Companies in 2012