Research pinpoints easiest places to find a job

Oxfordshire has been rated as the best area of the UK to find a job in an analysis by global jobs site Indeed.

David Sapsted

9 March 2020

Research by Indeed looked at the number of jobs advertised on its site by geographical areas across the country, and at which ones had the highest and lowest number of vacancies relative to the number of local candidates.Oxfordshire was rated as the easiest place in Britain to find a job, followed by Surrey, Berkshire, Edinburgh, Bristol, Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Argyll and Bute and Cambridgeshire.

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Areas facing the most competition for jobs

Apart from County Durham in NE England, the ten areas ranked as the most difficult places to find a job were were all in either Wales or Scotland: North Ayrshire, Angus, Rhondda, Midlothian, East Ayrshire, Blaenau Gwent, Clackmannanshire, Inverclyde, and Neath.The analysis indicated that these places had the largest shortage of local jobs relative to the number of local candidates, suggesting workers in these areas faced the most competition when searching for a job.Pawel Adrjan, head of EMEA research at Indeed, says, "Although the unemployment rate is close to record lows and the jobs boom has only kept going, our research shows the picture is not the same across the country.

Opportunities to recruit global talent being missed

"In many areas with less robust demand from employers, particularly in Wales and Scotland, it is more difficult for jobseekers to find work close to home, because there are a lot of candidates competing for jobs or there are not enough opportunities for everyone."Good transport links are crucial in ensuring people in those areas are able to reach other nearby towns and cities where there is higher demand for candidates."Our research also underlines how opportunities to recruit global talent may be being missed around the UK, as 40 per cent of all clicks from foreign workers on UK jobs are for London."The regions need to do more to make themselves attractive to the global pool of talent if they want to recruit people with the key skills critical to their local economies."

Optimism mitigated by coronavirus threat

Publication of the research coincided with a report from business consultants BDO showing that optimism among UK companies increased by its largest biggest margin in a decade last month. The surge in business confidence was believed to reflect a more certain political and economic outlook following the result of the December general election.However, Kaley Crossthwaite, a BDO partner, warns, "Businesses will now be spending the coming weeks focused on mitigating the uncertainty caused by coronavirus. The next month will be crucial in determining whether this optimism can remain, or if the 'Boris Bounce' will be brought back down to earth by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak."