Moving to the UK or back to Aus? Here's what to expect on your Job Search

With borders open between Australia and the UK, more and more agencies are ready to hire incoming talent. Here's what you can expect for your job search if you're moving.

It's no lie, adland has been hit hard in both Australia and the UK as candidates move client side in search for more flexibility and work-life balance. Although slow to adapt, adland has moved toward hybrid work and wellbeing programs, which Larisa, Stopgap Senior Consultant, talked about in last month's blog. 

Trends in Australia

The impact of WFH across all industries has seen full-time employees working an average of 6.91 extra hours each week and 4.55 for part-time employees, reports The Australia Institute Centre. Now that hybrid work has been introduced, more organisations are prioritising workplace wellbeing in a candidate driven market.

Australian job vacancies have increased 18.5% since August 2021 mostly due to replacements and resignations, increased workload and expanding teams. The overall unemployment rate (4.2%) has improved and recent ABS data shows employment has increased 1.9% since the start of the pandemic. In Stopgap Australia's home state, NSW, Journal and Communications both featured in SEEK's top ten fastest growing roles. 

Trends in the UK

Likewise Stopgap UK have seen their own version of the 'Great Resignation' and pivot to a candidate driven market. Job vacancies are growing each month and have increased 462,000 since January - March 2020. There is a desire to maintain security in current roles too, which is attributed to stagnated wages no in line with increased cost of living and difficulties getting a more competitive salary with a new role. 

However, akin to Australia the UK are experiencing a lack of talent in the creative and digital agency sector who are desperate for good candidates. The mass move from agency to client side could be attributed to big tech like TikTok and Facebook recruiting from agencies and media owners as "legacy" media becomes less relevant. In the UK 78% of ad spend was online in 2021, says Group M.

So what's next in the third year of the pandemic?

If you're moving to a colder climate, UK Stopgap is looking for specialist digital roles, such as SEO, PPC, UX and Product Managers. Sectors seeing major growth are SaaS and Tech, including PropTech and FinTech making up lots of vacancies. Take a look at the UK opportunities here.

For those looking to head to the Southern Hemisphere, key areas for growth are B2B tech, fintech, property and real estate along with vacancies for all levels of PR talent and Account Services to join advertising and brand agencies. Many agencies are willing to sponsor too. If you're looking for an in-house role, we've got plenty for marketers, designers, videographers and digital talent.