Revealed: top 10 skills most needed by employers following the impact of covid-19
A new report* published by Yorkshire based business and the UK’s biggest independent online learning provider, The Skills Network, in partnership with global insights from EMSI UK, has highlighted the top 10 most-sought after skills that West Yorkshire bosses are actively recruiting for right now, which includes; auditing, nursing and accounting.
With an estimated 1.52 million people* unemployed during Summer, and experts anticipating this figure to rise even further once the furlough scheme ends, the report analysed 1.5 million live job adverts to identify the expertise that is most sought-after by UK employers. The report aims to help guide those who may have been made redundant or unemployed, so they can identify the abilities bosses are looking for in their local region, including West Yorkshire.
The research has found that technical skills in programming, coding and software development are in extremely high demand, with technological roles growing by 7.3 per cent each year. However, the report also highlights the importance for candidates to display “soft skills” such as management and leadership.
As such, the top 10 skills, most in-demand in the West Yorkshire jobs market includes performance management, mental health awareness and selling techniques. With the top five most in-demand skills within the business and health sector overall, including:
- Auditing
- Nursing
- Accounting
- Business development
- Performance management (Key Performance Indicators)
To help those candidates looking for a new position in their local area, The Skills Network has also purposely developed an online app, which provides a personalised and bespoke list of the top 15 most sought-after skills and roles available in their local area. It is hoped this application will help people find the most appropriate position for them no matter which sector they worked in previously.
Andy Durman, Managing Director of EMSI UK, said: “The huge disruption to the economy this year has revealed a number of new labour market challenges, as well as exacerbating some existing ones, such as the already widening skills gap and the challenge brought about by increased automation.
“In order to really get to grips with these challenges, we need to better understand exactly what skills employers are demanding, and how this is changing over the period of economic upheaval and beyond.”
The Skills Network is calling for those impacted by the ending of the furlough scheme to refocus their training needs on one of the top 10 sought-after skills. Speaking about the report, Mark Dawe, Chief Executive from Yorkshire based business, The Skills Network, said: “Auditing is the most in demand skill in West Yorkshire – having been posted in 5,996 job adverts – followed by nursing (5,073) and accounting (4,939).
“Employers have long required mental health-related skills for roles in health, care and education, but the ability to identify and address mental illness has become desirable for most employers during the COVID pandemic, having been posted 7,134 job adverts in the region. In 2019, mental health skills were mentioned as a key requirement for applicants within 197,000 adverts in the UK job market– and it’s anticipated the 2020 figure will be double this by the end of the year.
“With remote working likely to continue into 2021, increasing numbers of organisations are allowing their employees to work from home, and this has identified the need for strong leadership skills. Managers need to be able to motivate and lead their colleagues, particularly with people feeling the pressures of working remotely.
“At The Skills Network, we offer distance learning, as a way of learning remotely and achieving new qualifications without attending lessons or lectures in a classroom. We’d urge anyone currently looking for their next role to consider online learning as a way to bolster their CV – and to tap-into the knowledge of the skills that employers are recruiting for.”
To access the full report, or to review the online courses available – please visit: https://www.theskillsnetwork.com/skills-gap-trend-report