Online Recruitment Dips in the UK in April, According to the Monster Employment Index

April 2008 Highlights:
Online hiring activity in the UK dips for the second straight month while year-on-year growth remains solid

The hospitality and tourism sector registered the highest increase in demand amid intense seasonal hiring

Architecture and construction sectors report significantly fewer opportunities compared with March, mirroring reports of a slowing housing market

Online job availability increases in the banking, finance and insurance industry for a third consecutive month, suggesting surprising resilience in financial sector hiring

Among occupational groups, legislators, senior officials and managers see the highest growth over the past three months and year-on-year

East Anglia is the only region to show a year-on-year decline in hiring

Overview
The Monster Employment Index UK dipped by eight points in April to reach a level of 179. Increased hiring in the hospitality and tourism industry was offset by fewer opportunities in housing and construction related sectors. The Monster Employment Index UK is a monthly analysis of millions of online job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards across the UK, including Monster.co.uk.

ìThe UK labour market has so far proved remarkably resilient in the face of an economic slowdown. Although online recruitment fell for the second straight month in April, historical data shows that most of the drop can be attributed to seasonality,î commented Hugo Sellert, Head of Economic Research, Monster Worldwide. ìMoreover, it is encouraging for potential job seekers to see that demand in the financial sector remains relatively robust, despite continued turmoil in global credit markets and highly publicised layoffs in banking.î

Opportunities in hospitality and tourism surge, while healthcare, social work continues decline
Online hiring in the hospitality and tourism sector rose by 17 points in April, bouncing back from a moderate dip in March. London and the South East reported the sharpest increases while South West fell back the most. London remained the top growth region in terms of hospitality and tourism sector demand.

Opportunities for workers in the banking, finance and insurance sector went up in April for the third consecutive month. This growth was driven by increased demand for both professionals; and technicians and associate professionals. Regionally, North England saw the biggest upturn, while the steepest decline was in Northern Ireland. Year-on-year growth in the sector was two points, or 1%.

The healthcare and social work industry fell dramatically by 45 points sequentially following a peak in February. This decline was largely due to significantly fewer opportunities for technicians and associate professionals; and professionals. Online hiring declined in all UK regions, with East Anglia registering the steepest fall. Year-on-year, this category declined 22 points, or 14% ñ the sharpest downturn among all sectors.

Craft and related workers see online hiring opportunities decrease the most
Online job availability for craft and related workers dropped by 34 points in April following two months of strong growth. Decline was seen mainly in the construction and extraction sector, while higher demand was registered in production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair. Regionally, there were major drops in Northern Ireland, East Anglia and Scotland, although there were increases in South East and Wales. Year-on-year growth was 48 points, or 21%.

Hiring of service workers and shop and market sales workers also dropped significantly in April following two successive months of growth. This was mainly due to the sharp decline in the public sector, defence, community; and sales sectors. By contrast, online hiring rose in the hospitality and tourism; and transport, post and logistics industries. All UK regions dipped in demand, with East Anglia registering the steepest decrease. Year-on-year growth was 21 points, or 17%.

There was a fall in demand in all occupations across the UK, with the exception of elementary occupations, where hiring in April was at the same level as March.

East Anglia and Wales hit hardest as job availability drops in all UK regions
East Anglia saw the biggest regional decline in online hiring as demand fell sharply for the second consecutive month. The marketing, PR and media sector had the fewest opportunities and online offerings dipped sharply in the healthcare, social work; public sector, defence, community; and education, training and library sectors. Demand in the transport, post and logistics sector showed a slight increase. Among occupational groups, there were fewer opportunities for most workers, despite a moderate rise in demand for skilled agricultural and fishery workers. There were sharp declines for service workers and shop and market sales workers; and craft and related workers.

There was also a notable downturn in job availability in Wales in April ñ the second successive monthly drop. The sectors that dipped most were marketing, PR and media; environment, architecture and urbanism; and engineering. Demand fell for most of the occupational groups, with only craft and related workers seeing an increase. The sharpest decrease was among skilled agricultural and fishery workers. Year-on-year growth in Wales, remained strong, however, at 69 points, or 40%.