The study looks at job market activity throughout April, comparing the findings with the previous month and year to build an understanding of how the UK job market is fairing right now. The data shows that catering job numbers also dropped by a staggering 75.2% year-on-year.
Another sign that the sector’s employers are struggling is the fact that average salaries fell by 6.6% month-on-month and 15.9% year-on-year.
Lee Biggins, founder and chief executive of CV-Library, said: “We’re trying to support UK businesses as much as possible right now, but everyone is feeling the financial effects of the current crisis.
“Thousands of companies have put a pause on their hiring plans until there’s more certainty in the market and the pandemic has hit the catering industry hard.
“All we can do now is prepare for the recovery and hope that business confidence picks up over the next few months when lockdown restrictions eventually ease.
“Unfortunately, there’s no light at the end of the tunnel at this stage, especially as we move into the thick of the spring/summer period, which tends to be quieter for hiring anyway.”
Although more people were out of work or placed on furlough in April, the jobs data also showed that application numbers dropped significantly last month; down 34.6% in the catering sector when looking at month-on-month data and by 75.2% year-on-year.
In addition to these findings, the job board also explored the application to job ratio on its site and found that this increased by 178.4% in the catering industry in April, compared to the previous year. This means there is more competition among candidates for the roles that are available.
Biggins added: “Unfortunately, organisations have had to make some tough decisions over the past six weeks, with ONS figures revealing that two thirds of businesses have placed staff on furlough.
“While these professionals might not be actively looking for work right now, especially at a time when there’s so much uncertainty, we do expect application figures to pick up in the coming months and clearly there is already increased competition for jobs.”