Amazon leads jobs boost in London and Dublin

The easing of lockdown restrictions last month has resulted in a pick-up in the London jobs market, according to a new survey.

David Sapsted

28 July 2020

Professional vacancies in the capital increased by 14 per cent month-on-month in June, indicating that London businesses "are slowly starting to re-hire as lockdown measures continue to ease", according to a report from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), the trade association for the recruitment sector.The data, provided by business intelligence specialist Vacancysoft, also showed that by the start of July, the number of professional vacancies being created per day was up 54 per cent compared to April.Ann Swain, APSCo chief executive, said: “June signalled significant change for the capital’s businesses. With lockdown measures gradually being eased, it’s encouraging to see hiring creep up."We are, of course, still a long way off normality, but we’re certainly heading in the right direction, with online retailers bolstering the capital’s recruitment."Amazon remained the dominant force in recruitment, with almost three times more vacancies added by the firm throughout June than the second most active employer, Citigroup."This is perhaps unsurprising given the demand for online shopping that has grown over the course of lockdown. GSK was also listed as one of the top ten firms recruiting, making the list for the first time in three years, as the firm continues to drive research for a Covid-19 vaccine," reported APSCo.There was also showed a 28 per cent, month-on-month increase in accountancy vacancies as firms sought to streamline costs, and a 12 per cent rise in HR vacancies, believed to have been a result of companies juggling employment contracts as a result of the pandemic.Ms Swain said: "We don’t expect to see hiring for companies like Amazon and GSK to decline for the foreseeable future, but as more organisations continue to open their doors again, we are predicting a continuation of this upward trend in recruitment.“With the furlough scheme extension being used by some while other businesses are seeing staff return to work both full and part-time, it’s perhaps unsurprising to note an uptick in demand for human resources professionals to manage the array of employment contracts the many businesses currently have in place."However, this increased need for accountancy professionals suggests that despite the efforts being made to get London back up and running again, financial aid remains a top concern for company owners.”Meanwhile, Amazon has also announced the creation of 1,000 permanent jobs in various centres across Ireland over the next two years, bring the company's workforce in the Republic to 5,000.The company said most of the new employment opportunities will be for skilled workers, primarily in the tech sector. There will also be a range of technical management and senior leadership vacancies with both Amazon and Amazon Web Services (AWS).Amazon is building a new 170,000-square-foot campus in Charlemont Square, Dublin, as home to AWS’s growing cloud computing workforce. It is expected to open in 2022. In September 2020, the first of Amazon’s wind farm projects in Ireland will come online.“Amazon has been investing and growing in Ireland for over 15 years and today we are reaffirming and increasing that commitment with the creation of these highly skilled roles,” said Mike Beary, AWS Ireland country manager.