01. E-commerce

To keep pace with the spike in online shopping during the pandemic, companies onboarded thousands of E-commerce workers – from Package Handlers through to Supply Chain Specialists – to help get products into the hands of customers. Hiring for these roles grew by 143% between 2019 and 2020. Amazon was the top hiring company, which considering the hoards of Amazon packaging bulging from recycling bags on the streets of London in 2020, is unsurprising.

02. Healthcare Supporting Staff

Due to the social distancing measures put in place by the COVID-19 pandemic, many patients in the UK were reluctant or unable to visit their doctors in hospitals or medical centres. As a result,  in 2020 we saw a 104% growth in Healthcare Supporting Staff roles, such as Home Health Aides who provide care to the elderly and people in need. It’s worth noting that 73% of those hired into these roles were female.

03. Digital Content Freelancers 

With the global pandemic resulting in many becoming unemployed, we saw an increasing number of people turn to freelancing. Digital Content Freelancers, in particular, grew by 118% in 2020.  Both video and podcast creation presented many opportunities for Digital Content Freelancers. For example, podcast listenership in the UK has been growing year over year and reached an estimated 15.6 million listeners in 2020.

04. Construction

While construction on commercial building projects grinded to a halt during the pandemic, the tiered lockdown combined with the UK government’s cut in stamp duty gave UK home builders the incentive to push ahead with projects. This resulted in a 132% growth in Construction roles in 2020. The majority of Construction roles were self-employed, with 31% of those hired holding an MA degree or higher.

05. Creative Freelancers

Creative industries in the UK have always been recognised as a driver of economic growth and cultural expression. While there’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on creative industries in the UK, companies have relied on creative freelancers, from Writers to Illustrators, to work on a project-basis in an agile way.  This is evident by the 69% growth of Creative Freelancers in 2020. Creative Freelance Writers, in particular, saw a 115% growth between, with more companies looking to enhance their digital presence with high-quality content.

06. Finance

With turbulence in the economy and uncertainty in financial markets, it’s not surprising that financial roles, from Investment Specialists to Treasurers, grew by 82% in 2020. Interestingly, Finance had the most remote job openings of all 15 categories. Finance Specialists were in high demand with top hiring companies including HSBC and Morgan Stanley. We also saw UK universities, such as Durham and UCL, hiring for an increasing number of Treasurer roles, most likely to keep track of finances during the pandemic.

07. Specialised Medical Professionals

This past year saw a huge strain put on the NHS staff as they worked to keep up with surging COVID-19 cases. While we clapped for our heroes, such as Intensive Care Nurses (155% growth) and Certified Nursing Assistants (133% growth) working on the frontline, there were also heroes working behind-the-scenes on vaccines, such as Laboratory Scientists (68% growth) and Medical Laboratory Assistants (156% growth). Overall, Specialised medical professional roles grew by 58% in 2020.

08. Professional and Personal Coaches

After a year of significant job losses across many industries, we saw many people transition into new career paths, such as Professional and Personal Coaches (101% growth), and use their skills to help others. We saw Managing Directors become Business Coaches, and Business Owners become Life Coaches. The majority of people moving into Life Coach roles were female (61%), working in a self-employed or freelance capacity.

09. Social Media and Digital Marketing

With online usage increasing year on year, it’s understandable that Social Media and Digital Marketing grew by 52% in 2020. With tightening marketing budgets as a result of the pandemic, we saw an increase in demand for roles such as Growth Hacker and Growth Specialist, roles focused on low cost and innovative alternatives to traditional marketing. This category attracted a younger demographic with an average age of 28, and 68% of the total hires in 2020 were female.

10. Customer Service

Travel restrictions, lockdowns and curfews have pushed businesses to find new ways of serving their customers, leading to a 54% growth in Customer Service roles. This encompassed both retail and call centre type roles, with businesses adapting from in-person to virtual methods to help support customers. Top hiring companies for customer service roles included Sitel, Capita and B&Q. Interestingly, there were many Customer Service Consultants hired in 2020 by the HM Revenue & Customs, most likely in response to being inundated by businesses and individuals claiming financial support during the pandemic.

11. Education

The pandemic placed many restrictions on the education sector in 2020. With schools and universities forced to close, many academic institutions used online learning to ensure a continuity in education services. As a result, education roles grew by 53% in 2020, and 63% of total hires were female. We especially saw a high demand for tutors, in subjects ranging from mathematics to English, with top hiring companies including the charity Teach First, and online tutoring platform www.mytutor.co.uk.

12. Mental Health Specialist

COVID-19 has caused an enormous psychological burden for many people. In the UK, we saw a 44% growth in hires of Mental Health Professionals. In fact, NHS England invested an extra £15 million to strengthen mental health support for Nurses, Paramedics, Therapists, Pharmacists, and support staff as a result of the pandemic.

13. Real Estate

In 2020, a large number of people moved from cities to the suburbs as a result of remote working and being able to choose the location of their homes more freely. While commercial real-estate suffered from uncertainty due to office closures, Real Estate roles still grew by 62% in 2020 compared to 2019, with people transitioning from roles such as Sales Negotiator to Real Estate Agent.

14. Specialised Engineering

Engineering has been one of those ‘pandemic-proof’ job categories, showing a continued rise over the past few years. In 2020, Specialised Engineering roles grew by 45%, including a sharp rise in Game Designer (58%) and Game Developer (40%) roles as the UK games sector hit record size during the pandemic. It’s worth noting that this category had one of the lowest female ratios of hires at 16% (just after construction with 15% female hires).

15. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

As a job category in constant demand and featuring prominently in last year’s report, it’s not surprising AI roles feature on the list again - with a growth of 40% hired in 2020. Online retailers and social media companies made up a majority of hires within this category. Similar to Specialised Engineering roles, female hires made up a low proportion of those hired at just 19%.