COVID-proof professions: The top industries hiring right now

Small Business Prices reveals the easiest and the hardest sectors to find a new role in right now.

• Information, professional and health sectors are named the top 3 for finding a new role this autumn
• The health sector has more than 19k jobs available in the UK for entry-level roles, making it the top industry for graduates
• Mining, agriculture and art sectors have the lowest amount of entry-level vacancies available in the UK

It’s safe to say that COVID-19 has had a monumental effect on the UK economy and job market. Many Brits have unfortunately found themselves looking for new roles after being furloughed and later made redundant. Having to unexpectedly look for a new career can certainly be a stressful and worrying time in normal circumstances, let alone post-lockdown.

New research by Small Business Prices compares the latest unemployment data to the number of jobs available in the UK– revealing the easiest and the hardest sectors to find a new role.

You can view the full piece here.

The top 10 sectors for seeking a new role

By comparing the number of people currently unemployed within each sector, with the number of jobs currently advertised, and those searching Google for jobs, these are the top 10 industries where there is the most opportunity:

Rank	Sector	Jobs Available	Search Volume	Jobs Available Per 1 Search
1	Information	100,532	70	1,436
2	Repair	11,652	70	166
3	Professional services	99,219	720	138
4	Storage	5,297	50	106
5	Health	102,054	1,600	64
6	Transport	20,373	1,000	20
7	Technical	46,325	2,400	19
8	Energy	13,974	880	16
9	Defence	3,926	320	12
10	Waste	5,274	590	9

The information sector takes the number one spot, with over 45,000 people currently unemployed compared to over 100,000 jobs currently available. Search volume (the number of people in the UK searching Google for jobs in this sector) is also comparatively low with just 70 searches. This means that for each person searching Google, there are approximately 1,436 jobs available.

At the other end of the scale, the Agriculture industry is currently the sector with the least amount of job opportunity, with 28,544 people currently unemployed in the UK compared to just 418 jobs currently on the market. Retail, Manufacturing, and Art are also named as some of the industries that currently have the least opportunities for job seekers.

The best and worst industries for each level

Experience, of course, has a part to play when seeking a new opportunity, as not all of the jobs currently available will necessarily apply to you. We’ve explored the best and worst sectors for entry, mid-level, and managerial positions:

Entry-level roles

Rank	Sector	Jobs available
1	Health	19,120
2	Professional services	13,366
3	Information	11,822

For entry-level roles, the healthcare industry is currently seeking a batch of new recruits! If you’re looking to get into the property sector however, this may be a little tricky as it ranks in the bottom position for the amount of opportunity currently available.

Mid-level roles

Rank	Sector	Jobs available
1	Professional services	5,122
2	Information	4,402
3	STEM	2,997

In comparison to entry-level roles, there are fewer opportunities all-round, with professional services currently advertising 5,122 roles. Energy and Administration industries have just a little over 1,000 jobs available each.

Manager roles

Rank	Sector	Jobs available
1	Professional services	33,010
2	Health	32,094
3	Information	31,807

With the highest number of job opportunities across all levels of experience, managerial roles in the professional services, health, and information sectors top the list as having the most jobs available. At the other end of the scale, finance, construction, and retail are all areas with the least amount of jobs available.

Ian Wright from Small Business Prices comments “Finding a new role is challenging enough in the best of times, let alone in this post-lockdown, recession phase we currently are finding ourselves in. We hope that our research sheds light on the hard stats– how many roles are available (supply) and the number of people who are finding themselves unemployed (demand) in industries across the UK.”