The number of online job postings, an indicator of the demand for workers, is steadily falling back towards its pre-pandemic level in London. This decline has coincided with an increase in the number of unemployed Londoners, which together suggest the health of the labour market is slowly worsening. It is however, important to note that recent ONS LFS regional unemployment figures are experimental "adjusted" estimates and therefore, should be interpreted cautiously (see our latest Labour Market Update).

Across occupational groups, postings associated with lower skill level requirements have declined the least, though these occupations generally make up a relatively small share of all online job postings in London. The most advertised occupations continue to be in professional services and sciences.

Advertised salary trends contrast with those seen in administrative data for workers. While wage statistics show that median earnings have grown slightly in real terms since 2018, the median advertised salary across all occupations was 10% lower in December 2023 than in January 2018. While there are likely to be a number of reasons for this difference, it does suggest that advertised salaries may not accurately represent market wages. Nevertheless, elementary and care occupations saw the strongest advertised wage growth, possibly reflecting either the continuing difficulty of hiring for these jobs, or changes in minimum wage levels.

Introduction

This update is based on online job postings data provided by Lightcast (formerly Emsi Burning Glass). It looks at online postings for jobs in London, including detail on information within postings (e.g. occupations, salary level and job location).

The number of online job postings is an indicator of the demand for labour, as well as the quality of skills matches in the labour market. Used together with traditional sources, it can (for example) be used to help to support the planning and delivery of skills provision and careers information, advice and guidance.


The number of online job postings is presented as unique, de-duplicated monthly postings. However, online job postings data is subject to revision and not all jobs adverts are posted online with professional occupations somewhat over represented in the data relative to more technical and elementary rolels. Therefore, while useful as an indicator, it is unlikely to present the full picture for job openings in London. For more information see: Understanding online job postings data.


More data on London’s labour market can be found on the London Datastore, including an analysis of job postings with green skills or job titles.


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Total online job postings

The chart below shows the number of unique online postings for jobs in London. Given the volatility associated with single-month estimates, the three-month average estimates provide a more reliable indication of short-term changes in the demand for labour.

  • Following economic reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic, the three-month average number of online postings climbed rapidly from the latter half of 2021 and into early 2022, reaching a peak of 184,000 in the three months to June 2022.

  • The number of online job postings then decreased sharply over the summer of 2022 before evening out around the beginning of 2023. Since then, the level of recruitment activity has been steadily declining back towards 2019 pre-pandemic levels.

  • Lastest job posting estimates suggest there were 92,000 online postings for jobs in London in December 2023 (single-month estimate), a decrease of 30.0% on the year. While this is a sharp drop, it is indicative of the seasonality of recruitment activity which typically declines in the run-up to the December holiday season and then bounces back in the early months of the new year.

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Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: non-seasonally adjusted. March 2020 indicated by dotted line.

Comparison of data providers

Trends in online job postings from Lightcast correlate well with similar data published by Indeed, and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using Adzuna.

  • Data from each of these sources show a very sharp drop in job posting levels just after the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

  • The decline was followed by a gradual increase in job postings estimates using data from Indeed, Adzuna, and Lightcast, though the latter series show a number of peaks and troughs, which is likely explained by the seasonality of recruitment activity*.

  • The level of job postings has not seen large fluctuations in any of the up-to-date series since the end of 2022, though the Indeed index dropped from 138 in December to 98 in September 2023. The Lightcast index has generally been the highest among the timely series throughout 2023.

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*Indeed records the number of job postings on its website. ONS sources data from Adzuna which are aggregators of online job postings. There may be different methodologies used for these series which explains some of the timeseries variation.

Source: Lightcast (monthly online job postings, non-seasonally adjusted), Indeed (average of daily online job postings), ONS (average of weekly online job adverts from Adzuna, non-seasonally adjusted).

Note: March 2020 indicated by dotted line.

Vacancies and unemployment

Comparing the level of job vacancies (or online job postings) with unemployment can be used to assess the status of the labour market. It is said to be ‘tight’ if vacant jobs are plentiful and available workers are scarce. If the opposite is true, the labour market is instead characterised as being ‘loose’.

The charts below compare the three-month rolling average of online jobs postings to the number of unemployed people in London since 2014.

  • Between 2014 and March 2020, the average ratio of job postings to unemployed Londoners was 0.52. During this period, the ratio peaked at 0.84 in the middle of 2017. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment rose while job postings declined. This led to a sharp drop in the ratio of postings to unemployed Londoners to 0.23.

  • Unemployment began to fall quickly in 2021 while the number of job postings rose. The increase in the ratio continued into 2022, reaching a peak of around 0.82 in the summer of 2022. This ratio has since declined due to both a declining number of job postings and a rising number of people unemployed. As such, the latest estimates suggest that the ratio of unemployed people to job postings has now returned to its pre-pandemic level.

  • The labour market has steadily cooled, with our indicator standing at 0.44 in Sep-Nov 2023.

    Note on accuracy of LFS data: Since the May-to-July 2023 release, the ONS has released experimental "adjusted" estimates of the headline labour market statistics - including regional unemployment - because of the uncertainty surrounding the official Labour Force Survey. These statisitcs should therefore be treated with caution and are subject to future revisions.


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Ratio between job postings and unemployment

Source: Lightcast 2024, non-seasonally adjusted; ONS Labour Force Survey.

Note: March 2020 indicated by dotted line.

Note: LFS estimates on unemployment since May-to-July 2023, to the current data (September-to-November 2023), have been adjusted using administrative data growth rates. These are therefore experimental statistics and should be treated with caution and are subject to future revision.

Level of job postings and unemployment

Source: Lightcast 2024, non-seasonally adjusted; ONS Labour Force Survey.

Note: March 2020 indicated by dotted line.

Note: LFS estimates on unemployment since May-to-July 2023, to the current data (September-to-November 2023), have been adjusted using administrative data growth rates. These are therefore experimental statistics and should be treated with caution and are subject to future revision.

Occupational groups

While online job postings trends in most occupational groups reflect the overall London picture of gradual decline back to pre-pandemic levels, there has been sustained growth in a number of lower-skilled and manual occupations.

  • The major occupation group with the largest rate of increase in the post-pandemic period was Elementary occupations with an increase of 637% from March 2020 to the peak in September 2021.

  • By December 2023, the change from March 2020 had reduced to 44%, though it was still the highest level of growth among occupation groups. While recruitment activity for Professional occupations is lowest relative to its pre-COVID level (-21%), it is important to note that they continue to account for by far the largest number of job postings in London’s labour market.

  • Among four-digit SOC occupations (with more than 1,000 job postings), Teaching assistants recorded the highest growth rate from March 2020 to December 2023 at 58%.*

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*Percentage growth rates are sensitive to low levels in the reference period.

Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: non-seasonally adjusted. March 2020 indicated by dotted line.

Skill levels

The ONS has grouped all 2-digit occupations into one of four skill levels, with occupations at Level 4 requiring the longest time to acquire full competency.

The number of online job postings varied significantly by skill level, with a higher number of postings for higher skilled jobs in London.

The number of job postings peaked in May 2022 for most skill levels. From then to December 2023, the change in job postings were as follows:

  • Skill level 4 (e.g. health professionals): -57%.
  • Skill level 3 (e.g. skilled construction trades): -51%.
  • Skill level 2 (e.g. sales occupations): -42%.
  • Skill level 1 (e.g. elementary service occupations): -64%.

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Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: non-seasonally adjusted. March 2020 and May 2022 indicated by dotted lines. Based on 2-digit SOC codes.

Top 10 occupations

Sub-major occupation groups

The table below shows the ten two-digit SOC codes with the highest number of unique new online job postings in the most recent three-month period (October 2023-December 2023). For comparison, it also shows the change in the number of job postings compared to the previous three-month period and the same period a year earlier.

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Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: Number of unique new postings in period. Based on 2-digit SOC codes.

Unit occupation groups

The table below shows the ten four-digit SOC codes with the highest number of unique new online job postings in the most recent three-month period (October 2023-December 2023). For comparison, it also shows the change in the number of job postings compared to the previous three-month period and the same period a year earlier.

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Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: Number of unique new postings in period. Based on 4-digit SOC codes.

Job characteristics

Remote work

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that more people started to work from home which was reflected in the increasing share of job postings advertised as remote work from March 2020.

The share of job postings advertised as offering remote working in London peaked at 23.3% in December 2022 but has declined since.

The share of 16.4% in London in December 2023 remained above the share in the UK overall at 11.7%.

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Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: non-seasonally adjusted. March 2020 indicated by dotted line.

Flexible work/hours

The chart below shows the long-term trend in the share of online job postings in London advertised with either part-time or flexible hours.

The onset of pandemic lockdowns did not appear to have any large and immediate impact on the share of job postings for flexible or part-time hours relative to the pre-pandemic period. The spikes between August 2021 and March 2022, appear, in-part, to have been driven by increased demand for cleaning staff in line with lockdown and post-lockdown procedures.

There has also been a gradual increase in the share of London’s postings related to part-time jobs from 5.4% in April 2022 to 7.6% in December 2023.

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*Not all online job postings include information on the number of hours required. When the information is not present, the posting is assumed to be for a full-time position.

Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: non-seasonally adjusted. Full-time defined as at least 32 hours. March 2020 indicated by dotted line.

Regional online job postings

The fluctuations in the number of online job postings have been similar across regions. London’s recovery has generally followed the UK trend, but has fallen below the UK average over the past year.

Relative to March 2020 levels:

  • The level of job postings in the UK overall peaked in November 2021, having grown by 100%. The growth rate for job postings in London was 58% at that point, which was among the lowest across all regions.

  • By May 2022, London was instead among the regions with the highest growth at 89%, above the UK growth rate of 80%.

  • In December 2023, the level of job postings in London had again decreased to 11% below its pre-pandemic level (the third lowest among all regions), while the overall UK growth rate had decreased to 6%.

    • The sharp drop seen at the end of 2023, across regions, is likely due to the seasonality of recruitment activity.

The change in the indexed level of job postings is sensitive to base effects and the date of indexation. Areas with historically low levels of job postings are more likely to experience higher growth rates.


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Source: Lightcast 2024.

Note: non-seasonally adjusted. March 2020 indicated by dotted line.


We do not present online job postings estimates at local authority level as the location data is not sufficiently precise to allocate postings to individual London local authorities.