The study looks at job market activity throughout April, comparing the findings with the previous month and year to build an understanding of how Scotland’s job market is fairing right now.

The data shows that the following cities saw the most drastic drops in vacancies month-on-month:

• Aberdeen – down 72.8%
• Perth – down 72.2%
• Inverness – down 65.6%
• Dundee – down 61.2%
• Edinburgh – down 60.2%
• Glasgow – down 60.1%
• Stirling – down 59.8%

Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library, said: “We’re trying to support businesses and recruitment agencies 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 this clearly isn’t limited to one pocket of the country.

“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.”

Despite more Scots being out of work or placed on furlough in April, CV-Library’s data shows that application numbers also dropped significantly in Scotland last month; down 17.1% when looking at month-on-month data and by 14.4% year-on-year.

Indeed, the following cities witnessed the largest falls month-on-month: Aberdeen (down 38.9%), Inverness (down 26.9%), Dundee (down 24.8%), Glasgow (down 18.1%), Edinburgh (down 12.4%). Interestingly, Perth and Stirling were some of the only UK cities to see an increase in applications; rising by 43.7% and 6.4% month-on-month, respectively.

In addition to these findings, the job board also explored the application to job ratio in Scotland and found that this increased by 107.9% in April, compared to the previous year. This means there is more competition amongst candidates for the roles that are available.

Mr Biggins concluded: “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.”

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