Application numbers in white-collar jobs are at breaking point, with recent data showing a 35% decline between May 2022 and June 2022. That’s according to the latest data from the world’s largest network of job boards, Broadbean Technology.

Broadbean’s statistics also reveal a 28% decline in the number of applicants year-on-year between June 2021 and June 2022, a figure that could be explained by the fact that there were more active jobseekers last year as the country emerged from lockdown at the end of June 2021.

When analysing the data by sector, the statistics reveal a significant decline in applications across IT, pharmaceuticals and accounting. The IT arena saw application numbers fall by 29% between May and June of this year, while figures in pharmaceuticals and accounting were down 41% and 33% respectively. It’s perhaps no surprise that applications across these areas have fallen given the widely reported talent shortages in all three sectors as the UK’s unemployment rate continues to fall and fewer candidates seek employment.

Alex Fourlis, Managing Director at Broadbean Technology, commented: “The UK’s skills crisis is continuing to be a focal issue, and for good reason, as our data shows that these shortages are impacting almost every business, across every sector. While there is an undeniable shortage of blue-collar workers in fields such as retail and logistics, the dearth of workers in highly skilled sectors is also of concern for the UK’s economic bounce back, with candidates for these positions not only harder to source, but also requiring lengthier training programmes to develop. This lack of white-collar applicants has the potential to negatively impact the UK’s status as an economic powerhouse.

“For employers and recruiters, now is a critical time. Businesses need to rebuild and nurture dwindling talent pools, utilise innovative technology to streamline hiring and maximise partnerships with external talent suppliers in order to find the undiscovered talent that is so desperately needed. Difficult times are ahead for the UK economy, and immediate action needs to be taken to establish a recruitment market that can best support the country’s economic bounceback.”