New jobs in Wales hit record levels with recruitment surges in real estate and technology — new report
- Vacancies in January 2022 reached record levels, year set for an all-time high
- Real estate & technology sectors experienced a big surge in jobs in 2021
- IT professionals most sought after, demand for engineers soars
- Admiral, L&G and Amey leading recruiters, jobs at AECOM rocket
Welsh businesses are publishing record numbers of professional vacancies, driven by a burst in hiring within the technology and real estate sectors, a new report shows.
According to research by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) and data analytics firm Vacancysoft, new jobs in Wales rose by 121% year-on-year in 2021.
In January 2022 recruitment levels reached a significant milestone, when firms in Wales published just over 1,000 new jobs — an all-time high that represented a rise of 88% compared to the same month a year earlier.
If the vacancies recorded in the first two months of 2022 maintain their course, the year will be another record-breaker for Wales, with recruitment levels climbing 34% year-on-year.
Real estate & technology sectors experienced a big surge in jobs in 2021 Real estate dominates as the sector publishing the most vacancies, and has done so since at least 2019. Jobs in the sector surged by 184% year-on-year in 2021. As a share of overall hiring, the sector has grown its proportion from 18.4% in 2019 to 25% in 2021.
Jobs in tech were the second-most published, accounting for 13.5% of all new roles in 2021. This is in contrast to the sector accounting for 11.4% of vacancies in 2019. The 1,100+ vacancies meant the sector overtook insurance, which held second spot for the last two years in Wales.
IT professionals most sought after, demand for engineers soars A look across the professionals most in demand in Wales shows that IT experts account for the largest amount of vacancies. New jobs surged by 123% year-on-year in 2021 — with this function’s share of overall vacancies rising by 1.9 percentage points in the process. Jobs for IT professionals now make up 16.3% of all vacancies.
Jobs in engineering are the fastest growing, up 275.9% year-on-year. Making up 3.7% of new roles in 2019, hiring for this function now accounts for 7.5% of all vacancies. The 920+ new jobs recorded in 2021 elevated engineering to second spot in the list of top professionals, up six places since 2020.
Admiral, L&G and Amey leading recruiters, jobs at AECOM rocket Admiral is Wales’s leading recruiter, with 530 vacancies published in 2021 (125.5% year-on-year). The largest increase in new jobs in the top 10 was experienced by AECOM, which published 1,169% more vacancies compared to 2020.
Second-placed Legal & General recorded 262 vacancies last year, representing growth of 56% year-on-year. With 220 vacancies, Amey appears in third place in the list of top firms by number of vacancies, with a rise of 87.2% year-on-year.
