Danger that the demand for skills means that jobs go unfilled.

The UK’s recruitment agencies and client companies are struggling to hire staff as vaccination levels increase and the economy starts to open. Brexit and the Covid pandemic has seen an exodus of overseas workers who are now needed as the economy gets going

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and recruitment firms say that employers plan to hire at the fastest rate in eight years, led by the reopening of the hospitality and retail sectors as pandemic restrictions are relaxed in England, Wales and Scotland

There are now growing pressures in the jobs market alongside a growth in consumer spending and the  sharp decline in the numbers of EU workers risks fuelling the chance of further labour shortages.

There is stiff competition for staff, with many hospitality and retail workers having left the industry to look for more secure work after the ups and downs of the last year.

There are also far fewer foreign workers seeking employment in the UK, with overseas interest in UK jobs more than halving from before the pandemic, hitting these industries hard. UK employers can no longer rely on overseas workers to plug employment gaps. Business leaders commenting that a lack of overseas workers after lockdown is putting stop sign on the recovery.

The CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, said: “New limits to the supply of unskilled migrant labour and the switch to new ways of working presents many employers with an incentive to review job quality.”