Coronavirus is causing a huge fall in the number of jobs being advertised

The hospitality sector has been hardest hit because of the closure of pubs, cafés and restaurants.

The number of jobs being advertised has fallen sharply in recent weeks due to the coronavirus crisis.

A new study by jobs site Adzuna has found there have been more than a fifth fewer job vacancies advertised in the past six weeks. The hospitality industry has been one of the hardest hit, losing 40% – around 25,000 – of its advertised vacancies.

This came after the announcement that pubs, cafés and restaurants would be completely closed until further notice. Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said: ‘We expect to see a sharp slowdown in hiring and a rise in unemployment across the globe as countries battle to contain the virus.

‘With UK unemployment likely to double in April and the number of vacancies advertised shrinking, we expect 2020 jobseekers to experience one of the most challenging and competitive job markets since we started collecting data almost 10 years ago.

‘The road back to economic recovery will likely be slow and tough, but I am given solace by some sectors in the British economy still actively recruiting, as well as the national effort recruitment drives for key workers and vital healthcare staff.’

The number of jobs for graduates has also fallen by 13% in recent weeks, while there has also been a drop in internships as companies hold back on hiring plans, said Adzuna.

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But in contrast, vacancies for cleaners, teachers, scientists and accountants have increased.

This is in addition to thousands of new jobs which have been advertised by supermarkets in recent weeks to cope with extra demand during the pandemic.

Morrisons hired 3,500 new staff in the last few weeks to meet the soaring demand for home deliveries, Aldi aims to hire around 9,000 new staff members and Tesco had openings for 20,000 new workers.

The Co-op supermarket said it is to create 5,000 jobs in a bid to provide temporary employment for hospitality workers – and a number of those will be permanent.

This comes after the news supermarkets have had the busiest month on record as shoppers stocked up on supplies to get them through the crisis.

Sales rose by 20.6% in the last four weeks, and 7.6% in the last 12, beating even Christmas shopping.

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