Read more about Brexit in the latest issue of Relocate magazine. A warning that British firms will find it even harder to source the skills they need after Brexit has been issued by the UK head of the global jobs website Indeed.The warning from Bill Richards, the firm's UK managing director, came as Indeed published an analysis of the hardest jobs to fill in Britain over the past year at a time when the number in employment reached a record high.

Optometrists top the list of hard-to-fill jobs (though 6 of 10 of the hardest-to-fill jobs are in tech)

Although optometrist roles were found to be the very hardest to fill, six of the ten jobs with the highest proportion of hard-to-fill vacancies were in the tech and systems sector.The analysis revealed that software engineers, software architects, front-end developers, system engineers, software test engineers and full stack developers all had high percentages of lengthy vacancies in the past year."With the UK employment rate at the highest on record, finding suitable new staff has never been more of a challenge for British employers," commented Indeed.

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"The shortage of staff is most acute in sectors that require highly skilled candidates, with Britain’s booming tech sector in particular struggling to find enough people with the right skills and experience, despite paying generous salaries."The survey showed that 68.79 per cent of optometrist vacancies posted on Indeed during 2018 remained unfilled for 60 days or more. Just over half of solicitor roles were also still vacant after 60 days, with 46.32 per cent of surgeon role jobs still unfilled after two months. Flight attendants rounded off the top ten of the hardest-to-fill jobs.“Even at the best of times, finding the right staff requires a winning blend of hiring strategies. But the current jobs’ market has raised the bar for many employers," said Mr Richards.

Jobseekers can benefit from the tight labour market

“With a higher proportion of the population in work than ever before, the pool of jobseekers is a shallow one. When demand from employers outpaces the supply of workers, it can take a long time to fill vacancies – and our research pinpoints which ones have been most affected.“The Brexit connection is hard to overlook. Many of the ‘hardest to fill’ roles have historically been ones that were filled by EU workers drawn to the UK by Britain’s more abundant job opportunities. With official data showing net migration from the EU slowing, these roles are set to become even harder to fill.“But on the other side of the coin, where employers see difficulty, jobseekers should see opportunity. Clearly in a tight labour market like ours, much of the power already sits with the workers, but these roles that are notoriously hard to fill could prove especially fruitful for ambitious jobseekers looking for a new challenge.”

Work-life balance: the study also finds that many employees are dissatisfied with their work

The Indeed analysis followed the publication of a survey of more than 2,000 fulltime UK employees, commissioned by digital product design and app development firm Studio Graphene, showing that 30 per cent planned to change jobs during 2019 - a figure that rose to almost 40 per cent among the 18-34 age group.Two-fifths said they felt undervalued and believed they were more competent than their line managers - a feeling particularly strong among high earners.Ritam Gandhi, founder and director of Studio Graphene, said, “The research shows just how many people were dissatisfied by their work in 2018. One of the reasons is because there are so many elements employers must get right: from culture and work-life balance through to salaries and professional development, people are increasingly looking for a complete package in their job, not just an idle ‘9 to 5’.“It is interesting to note that people working in large companies or earning high salaries are among the least content. That is certainly one factor that has drawn so many people to launch or join a start-up – this is where people feel they are more valued and engaged as an employee, while it can also fast-track their professional development.“As someone who both runs a start-up and works with start-ups, I know how important it is to instil the right culture in a small team and ensure staff have the right work-life balance. But this is a difficult task; one must put appropriate structures in place while still treating everyone as adults, giving them the freedom to express themselves and reach their potential.”Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online DirectorySubscribe to Relocate Extra, our monthly newsletter, to get all of the international assignments and global mobility news.

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