18.05.2023

Public sector job growth bucks trend: +26% increase in new vacancies

Public sector job growth continues to rise in the UK – bucking the trend of some of the nation’s leading industries - reporting a 12%+ growth in white-collar roles in Q1 (compared to Q4 2022).

The findings come from recruiter Robert Walters, who’s job data reveals that 10,343 new white-collar roles were advertised in Q1 – a +26% increase on Q1 2022, and a +28% increase on 2021.

Habiba Khatoon, Director at specialist recruitment firm Robert Walters commented: "The increase in public sector jobs has been driven by a range of factors, including increased demand for services across the board including healthcare, education, and housing.

“The governments investment into infrastructure projects and initiatives is clearly paying dividends in the form of job creation, and the significant spike in demand for tech & digital skillsets highlights where the sector would like to move toward.”

Tech leading the way: skills in demand

By job function, IT Management has become the leading area being recruited for across the public sector - with vacancies up +113% on the 2022 monthly average.

Skills in Demand – Analysis of Public Sector Job Adverts (professional roles)
	% change in job vacancies Q1 2023 vs Q1 2022	% of job adverts asking for skillset
Communications	-5.13%	5.59%
IT Development & Engineering	8.25%	4.44%
HR Recruitment	-6.64%	4.01%
IT Management	113.13%	6.83%
Digital Marketing	2.61%	3.05%
Management Accounting	5.28%	3.42%

Regions Pick-Up Pace

Broken down by region, the Robert Walters data reports that whilst London continues to be the largest area by way of job advertisements (33%) – this has dropped slightly by -1% compared to last year.

Interestingly Wales is the fastest growing region, up +57%, but equally only has a small share of the overall total vacancies (4%).

Perhaps the bigger story here is in the North, which continues to increase in activity and share - with professional vacancies up +40%, meaning it now accounts for 25% of all vacancies in the UK (up from 23%).

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