Berkshire: 2021 begins brimming with local job opportunities

Statistics unveiled by Berkshire Opportunities show that despite the economic challenges facing the UK, there are over 40k job vacancies in Berkshire, 32k of which are for permanent positions.

In the face of the ongoing coronavirus challenge, the outlook for Berkshire’s workforce is positive, demonstrating the continued strength of the area’s economy. The latest analysis shows over 40k job vacancies in Berkshire, spanning diverse sectors such as technology and health and social care, with the average annual salary across all vacancies being £34k.

Trends show that while Berkshire job vacancies plummeted between March and June 2020 they have been steadily increasing throughout the year. In fact, at the start of December 2020, the number of live vacancies was 12% higher than that of the same period in 2019.

These latest figures indicate that Berkshire has the highest job density of all the home counties.

Comparing the latest data on the working-age population (16-64) in key home counties to the number of jobs in each region, there are over nine positions available for every working-age adult in Berkshire.

In contrast, data indicates that Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Hertfordshire and Essex contain far fewer opportunities. In Essex, for example there are under seven jobs per working-age adult, and in Surrey and Buckinghamshire, just over seven.

The top posted occupations in Berkshire include nurses, care and home workers, IT and telecommunications professionals, software development professionals, book-keepers, business development managers and primary and nursery educators.

This latest data was gathered in January 2021 by Berkshire Opportunities, a free online service that helps local job seekers, students and residents make informed career decisions. Job postings were analysed using Emsi, a labour market insight tool based on verified government data sources and online analytics.