- Professional roles increased by +8.6% globally in October (vs previous month, September)
- Tech, media & telecoms report +14.2% growth in jobs – with falling interest rates driving investment back into sector
- Mexico leads the way on professional job creation in October – benefiting from the nearshoring boom
- Canada billed a ‘one to watch’ by talent solutions business Robert Walters – as tech and healthcare show signs of long-term growth
- Financial services reported a ‘muted’ October for job growth due to US Election and UK Budget.
Professional job roles increased by +8.6% globally in October – in an early sign that the ‘tide may be turning’ on what has otherwise been a ‘quiet year’ for job growth.
The uplift in new jobs in the past month was most pronounced across the retail, consumer goods & services (+29.3%), basic materials (+15.1%), technology, media & telecoms (+14.1%), and healthcare (+12.7%) sectors – where professional job roles were up on the previous month.
Whilst professional job roles in real estate (+4.9%), financial services (+1.1%), and energy (-2.8%) remained relatively flat in October.
The findings come from the latest Robert Walters Global Jobs Index – published today, Tuesday 19 November in conjunction with Vacancysoft – the only index of its kind to track job flow for professionals across the globe by looking at external job adverts posted online in real time.
Toby Fowlston – CEO of global talent solutions business Robert Walters, comments:
"The latest figures from our Global Jobs Index are encouraging – and is a positive hint toward more traditional recruitment cycles returning, whereby October and the final quarter tends to be busy as companies ramp up seasonal hires or look to spend remaining hiring budgets before the close of the year.
"The uptick in roles across sectors like retail, consumer goods, technology, and healthcare reflect a broader, emerging demand for skilled talent as businesses recalibrate and position for growth.”
Improved market conditions across major economies
Eight out of the top ten countries for job volumes reported job vacancy growth in October, when compared to the previous month – with Mexico (+21.6%), and Canada (+17.6%) leading the way. France was one of the only countries to report a notable decline in new professional jobs in October (-20.8%).
Fowlston analyses what’s driving job growth in these regions:
- “Mexico continues to benefit from the nearshoring boom – with companies increasingly relocating manufacturing and supply chain operations closer to North American markets – this could be driven further in the next quarter by recent geopolitical shifts and trade re-negotiations/agreements.
- “Canada has certainly become a country to watch, with job creation remaining consistent month-on-month. The country has become an attractive base for global tech companies due to its favourable immigration policies, highly skilled workforce, and competitive cost of talent compared to the U.S. This has spurred job creation in software development, cybersecurity, and fintech. Looking at the numbers, Canada is on par with India for new job vacancies across the tech, media & telecoms space (+56.4%). We also saw a notable jump in professional roles across the healthcare space in October (+24.8%) – which can be put down to the increased focus on healthcare innovation bought about by an ageing population.
- “It is important to note that France reported one of the sharpest increases in professional job roles last month (September) – post their Olympics and summer break slowdown – and so their job vacancy numbers in October should be viewed within that context, given they are compared to an unusually high benchmark. We expect this to level out and be on par with what we are seeing across Europe for the rest of the year.”
Technology benefits from lowering interest rates
Professional job roles across the tech, media and telecoms space increased by +14.2% in October globally, vs the previous month.
Over two thirds (69%) of the newly created professional job roles coming from the tech, media and telecoms space in October are specifically for IT professionals – followed by sales (12%) and marketing/PR (8%) – a sign that the sector is gearing back up for growth.
In October, all of the top 10 countries reported an increase in professional job vacancies across the tech, telecoms and media sector – most notably Mexico (+26.8%), UK (+19.9%), Singapore (+18.9%, and China (+17.1%). Germany and France also reported an uplift in job vacancies in the past month across tech, media telecoms.
Whilst the USA only reported a +12% increase in job vacancies across tech, media and telecoms, it continues to dominate across this space – representing close to 40% of all job vacancies in this sector in the top 500 companies around the world featured in the Robert Walters Global Jobs Index.
Fowlston comments: “The tech industry in particular is heavily reliant on investment, and with interest rates falling in October across a number of regions including the USA, European Union, and UK – this gave way to more favourable conditions for VCs to borrow and invest, which may be one of the reasons why there may be increased hiring activity in VC-backed firms.
“This would need to continue over a series of months (and quarters) for us to be able to confidently determine that the global tech sector is on a solid upward trajectory.”
Geo-politics impact financial services
New job creation within financial services only increased by +1.1% in October, vs the previous month, but the year as a whole is looking more positive – with a +10.1% increase in roles globally vs 2023.
USA continues to lead the way in job creation across financial services – and is on track to post +11.7% more vacancies this year than last. In contrast Ireland (-8.7%), Switzerland (-7.4%), UK (-6.4%), and France (-5.1%) all trend negatively, with Poland the only European country in the top ten to post an increase of +15.5%.
Fowlston adds: “The anticipation of policy changes and economic reforms have a significant impact on the financial services sector, so if we take the two biggest hubs in the world – London and New York – we can see why October job growth was muted due to the US Election and UK Budget."
“Now that some of the ‘big decisions’ have been made, we have a clear way forward for the next few years – and with that we can anticipate for a degree of stability over the coming quarter. Talks of deregulation of the finance sector during Trump’s election campaign could see a spike in risk roles across the globe for financial services.”
The Robert Walters Global Jobs Index – delivered in conjunction with Vacancysoft - was released on Tuesday 19 November 2024, with the next Index due for release on Tuesday 17 December 2024.
The Index analyses job adverts posted on the websites of the largest organisations around the globe.
