There was notable growth in the proportion of establishments reporting vacancies between the 2013 and 2015 studies, pointing to strong labour market activity and positive changes in the UK economy. Specifically, 19 per cent of all establishments had at least
one current vacancy at the time of ESS 2015 fieldwork. This represents a substantial
increase from 2013 when 15 per cent of all establishments had at least one vacancy at the time of fieldwork.
This increased incidence of recruitment activity was also evident when considering the proportion of establishments that had successfully recruited at least one new employee over the 12 months prior to the survey. Just over half (51 per cent) of all establishments had successfully recruited someone during this period; an increase from the 46 per cent reported in the 2014 Employer Perspectives Survey (Shury et al., 2014).
In volume terms, there were a total of 928,000 reported vacancies across the UK at the time of the survey (equivalent to 3.3 per cent of total employment). This represents a considerable 42 per cent increase compared to the number of vacancies reported in 2013, which stood at 655,000, equivalent to 2.4 per cent of total employment in 20134. As shown in Figure 2.1, strong growth in recruitment activity was evident in all the UK countries and the proportion of employers with at least one current vacancy represented a return to the broad levels of recruitment activity seen prior to the recession5.
3 Half of employers with skill-shortage vacancies were assigned to the ‘new’ skill descriptors, whereas the other half were
assigned to the ‘old’ skill descriptors used in ESS 2011 and 2013 to facilitate comparisons over time. Time series data on the skills lacking among applicants according to the ‘old’ skill descriptors are shown in Tables A.2.12 and A.2.12a in Appendix A. Further information on the changes to the skill descriptors used is provided in the ESS 2015 Technical Report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2015-uk-results).
4 This large increase in recruitment activity has also been reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS
Labour Force Statistics reported that the number of vacancies for May to July 2015 was an increase of 38% from the same period in 2013.
5 In 2003, 2005 and 2007 the proportion of employers in England with at least one vacancy at the time of the respective
fieldwork periods was 17 per cent, 17 per cent and 18 per cent respectively (NESS 2003, 2005 and 2007). Due to differences in the populations used (establishments with 1+ employment, rather than the 2+ employment used in the ESS
Figure 2.1 Incidence and density of vacancies overall and by country
The proportion of establishments that reported having at least one vacancy increased with the size of establishment. Ten per cent of establishments with fewer than five employees had at least one vacancy, compared with 71 per cent of establishments with 250 or more employees. Conversely, the density of vacancies (i.e. as a proportion of employment) decreased with the size of establishment, from 5.7 per cent among those with fewer than five employees to 2.3 per cent among those with 250 or more employees. The incidence and density of vacancies has increased across all size bands since 2013. By sector, the proportion of establishments that reported vacancies ranged from five per cent in Agriculture to 33 per cent in Education. In density terms, the highest density of vacancies was recorded in a number of the service-based industries. It was highest in the Hotels and Restaurants sector (5.3 per cent), Arts, Entertainment, Recreation and Other Service Activities (5.1 per cent), and Business Services (4.1 per cent). Conversely, the sectors with the lowest density of vacancies were Manufacturing, Electricity, Gas and Water and Education sectors at 2.1 per cent in each.
using the nation-specific skills surveys (The Northern Ireland Skills Monitoring Survey [NISMS], The Scottish Employer Skills Survey [SESS] and Future Skills Wales [FSW]).
14% 15% 19% 14% 15% 20% 10% 10% 13% 14% 15% 19% 12% 14% 17% 2.2% 2.4% 3.3% 2.2% 2.5% 3.4% 2.4% 2.1% 2.8% 1.9% 2.4% 3.1% 1.9% 2.2% 3.1%
% of establishments with vacancies Density (vacancies as % of employment)
2013 2011
UK England N. Ireland Scotland Wales
Base: All establishments (2015: UK: 91,210; England: 75,129; NI: 4,014; Scotland: 6,035; Wales: 6,027)
2015 201120132015 201120132015 201120132015 201120132015
The density of vacancies increased by between a quarter to a half in most sectors between 2013 and 2015. The sector with the biggest increase was Construction where the density of vacancies increased by 71 per cent (from a vacancy density of 1.8 per cent in 2013 to 3.0 per cent in 20156).
Tables A.2.1 and A.2.2 in Annex A provide a detailed breakdown of recruitment activity by country, size of establishment and sector.
The survey also identifies the occupational groups where vacancies exist7. The occupation with the highest density of vacancies was Associate Professionals at 7.9 per cent. This occupation also had the highest density of vacancies in 2011 and 2013. There was an increase in vacancy density for all occupation groups between 2013 and 2015 (the sole exception being Managers which remained unchanged). The increases in vacancy density were most evident among Skilled Trades and Elementary occupations. The density of vacancies for Skilled Trades increased from 2.7 per cent in 2013 to 4.5 per cent in 2015 and from 2.1 to 3.9 per cent for Elementary occupations.
Table A.2.3 in Annex A provides a detailed breakdown of recruitment activity by occupation.
6 This increase in vacancy density is most the result of a large increase in the number of vacancies in this sector but also