Huge competition for engineering roles as vacancies fall but applications soar

Engineering job applicants are facing tougher competition for roles thanks to a fall in vacancies and a huge increase in applications, according to new figures from a jobs website.

Vacancies were down 37.4% year-on-year in September as the industry continued to react to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest job market data from CV-Library. With fewer jobs advertised and the end of the furlough scheme approaching, the ‘application to job ratio’ was up by a huge 95.3% year-on-year, an increase of 22.2% on August 2020.

“While we saw a dip in applications back in August, they picked up significantly in September, which tends to happen as people adopt the ‘back to school’ mindset,” said Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library.

“That said, we do know that the furlough scheme is due to end in a matter of weeks now, and while the government is offering further support through its Job Support Scheme, professionals are clearly nervous about their prospects and competition for jobs is ramping up.” 

Although job opportunity numbers are lower than a year ago, they are increasing every month and vacancies increased 23.9% month-on-month in September. Average pay for engineering roles was up 3.7% year-on-year.

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