The number of professional vacancies in London paying over £40k and over saw a steady increase in July, edging closer to pre-lockdown levels. That’s according to new research from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), the trade association for the recruitment sector.

Professional vacancies increasing

The data, provided by business intelligence specialist Vacancysoft as part of its Covid hiring tracker, revealed an uptick in the average number of vacancies added daily. At the beginning of Q2, the five-day rolling average was just 167 new vacancies in the capital, while in comparison, by the end of July this had more than doubled to 358, with some days seeing over 400 roles added. Prior to the pandemic, London’s five-day rolling average for these professional vacancies would be between 500 and 600, indicating that confidence is slowly returning to the capital’s businesses.

Amazon still most active hirer

Across the companies hiring in London, Amazon continues to lead recruitment activity, with over 200 vacancies being advertised by the online shopping giant in July alone. This is perhaps unsurprising given the continued shift to virtual shopping in light of the pandemic. As the UK continues to invest in a Covid-19 vaccine, it’s perhaps also no surprise that GSK featured in the top ten hiring companies in London.

The data also revealed that IT professionals are in highest demand in London, accounting for 32% of all vacancies, with Commercial experts second at 26%, with much of the demand for the latter being driven by Amazon’s on-going recruitment drive.

Ann Swain, CEO of APSCo comments: “It’s encouraging to once again see positive signs in London’s hiring activity and these latest statistics confirm an upward trend that we’ve noted over the summer months so far. While we certainly still have a long way to go before we’re completely back to pre-Covid levels of business confidence and hiring, current indicators suggest that London is certainly on the right track. However, as funding through the furlough scheme continues to wind down and several major firms announce redundancies, we could soon see an influx of candidates seeking new roles.”