According to national statistics, unemployment in Scotland increased by 3,000 reaching 155,000 between April and June. This takes the working population of Scotland to 2.6 million, up 1%, or 29,000 in real terms, from the same period last year.
The Scottish unemployment rate is now 5.6%, on par with England. Interestingly the split is not even across genders. It appears that women are performing better in the jobs market than men – with unemployment for women in Scotland at 4.9%, compared to 6.3% for men.
The statistics show that last month there was an increase in full-time employment for women, whilst simultaneously a dip in part-time employment. This would suggest the shift has come from women already in part-time employment, being offered a permanent role when they became available internally.
With this backdrop, s1jobs is seeing a change in candidate behaviour. As employer activity seasonally adjusts during the summer months of July and August, candidates are more actively pursuing a change in career.
Across the year it’s typically January that is the key month in which candidates, fuelled with New Year’s resolutions, decide to find that new job. However, during July and August our clients received more applications than during January. This increase is due to extensive website enhancements and a continued focus on improving user experience.
Application growth can be seen in 21 of the 35 sectors we operate in. With the largest rise within the Oil & Gas market. Other large rises could also be seen in Marketing/PR, Customer Services, Admin and Scientific. Suggesting that candidate confidence is at a high.
Companies will have their employee retention plans tested and will need clever tools to deal with the rise in applications. This is why we have launched s1 video interviewing which I introduced in my last update.
Find out more about s1 video interviews.
