Job Market Outstrips Pre-Covid Levels for East Midlands Recruitment Firm

The job market is in the best shape it’s been for decades, according to Nottingham-based recruitment firm Capella Professional.

Not only has employment activity in many sectors returned to levels experienced before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, it is also outperforming most of the previous years.

Capella Professional has already placed jobseekers in more than double the number of permanent and temporary “white collar” roles in the first five months of this year than in the whole of 2020. Figures are also exceeding those of the previous year, and beyond.

The company’s experience is reinforced by a recent UK market report by accounting firm KPMG and REC, the Recruitment & Employment Federation, which found that job vacancies were now at their highest level since October 1997. 

Ben Ryder, business manager for Capella Professional, which specialises in the recruitment of office workers from its headquarters at Cubo Work, Nottingham, said: “This is the busiest I have ever been. 

“It’s a hugely exciting time to be part of the recruitment industry. And I don’t see this increase in activity as a blip. It’s got real momentum, and many of our clients are already projecting further employee requirements for the next 12 months.” 

The biggest vacancy increase is in the IT and computing sector – roles such as data scientists and business analysts. More opportunities are also appearing for housing surveyors as Covid restrictions become more relaxed. 

Ben believes the healthy numbers are partly the result of companies gaining confidence and rebuilding as the nation emerges from crisis of the pandemic, when many staff may have been furloughed or made redundant.

Yet he is also seeing new roles being created that would have been quite rare before Covid – such as ‘operational transformation manager’ - and says many roles that were traditionally thought of as lower-skilled are now being valued much more highly by employers. 

“People often think of roles like admin jobs as being bottom of the ladder,” said Ben. “But, due to the massive organisational shifts needed with Covid and working from home, companies are now willing to pay these roles more because of the work they now realise they actually do. If the bottom of the ladder is running well, the whole company runs well too.

“It’s fantastic that, despite all the hardships created by the pandemic, companies are now really starting to notice an employee’s worth. Employers are also responding well to the increasing need for flexible working, whether that be part-time roles, flexible hours or working from home.”

Capella Professional is the sister company of Derby-based Sky Recruitment Solutions, which also has branches in Ripley and Huddersfield plus a further three offices due to open this year.

Sky Recruitment Solutions specialises in more industrial and manufacturing roles, while Capella specialises in office-type and managerial roles. The group recorded its best ever year during 2020, in terms of turnover and staff levels.

David Torrington, group managing director, said: “When the pandemic struck, as an MD and business owner, I had to look at every tiny aspect of the business in case my team didn’t have a business to go back to. Yet we had our best year ever.

“The pandemic has forced everyone to look very closely at their business, so most clients are deciding to kick on now with a much greater purpose and direction than they’ve probably had for many years. It’s great news for our industry.”

To discover more about Capella, job seekers and employers can visit www.capellaprofessionalsolutions.co.uk or call 07913 924730. Alternatively, visit www.skyrecruitmentsolutions.co.uk or call 01332 650720.