More jobseekers sought to beat the New Year scramble for jobs, as applications surged during the end of 2016, the latest data from totaljobs has revealed. Comment from John Salt, director, totaljobs.

The Totaljobs Employment Index, which measures activity across the totaljobs website, has shown that job applications were up 11 percent  in the final three months of 2016, when compared with the three months prior*. Indeed, the trend of job hunting at the end of the year seems to have been accentuated in 2016. Applications in the last three months of 2016 were 25 percent  higher than in the same period in 2015. But jobseekers’ hopes of beating the rush for jobs in the new year seems to have been misplaced, as the increase in applications far outstripped the number of vacancies in the back end of 2016, with the number of applications for each available job rising 18 percent.

Although there is certainly hope for jobseekers across the UK who have yet to find a job. In separate data also released today from the second report in totaljobs’ Understanding Talent series – it was revealed that the majority of employers (59 percent ) have vacancies open for one to two months before they successfully hire, while another 20 percent  are having to chase applications for three to six months. Just a lucky one in six employers (17 percent ) have vacancies open for a month or less. John Salt, director, totaljobs said: “There’s never an ‘easy’ time to hire a new member of staff, but what this latest data shows us is that the trend for job hunting in the new year actually starts much earlier, towards the back end of the previous year.

“For those recruiters that might find it a bit harder to attract candidates quickly, such as the 20 percent that have to leave vacancies open for three to six months, it could be worth trying to move the time you recruit towards the early winter months, where demand high. On top of this, offering the right package of benefits, and using the correct recruiting methods remains important. For more helpful advice, visit the totaljobs recruiter blog.” Looking across the UK, examining the last three months compared with the same period in 2015, the data revealed the regions with the highest number of applications were East Anglia, Scotland and the South West, up 38 percent , 34 percent  and 32 percent  respectively.

Turning to jobs growth, using the same criteria, the sectors which enjoyed the biggest job growth were catering & hospitality, property and transport & logistics, up 51 percent , 42 percent  and 42 percent  respectively. But property’s job growth was more than exceeded by applications, which were up 75 percent , while applications for construction were up 63 percent.