The latest survey by REC indicates that the job market in the UK went into an abrupt freeze mode during April as a result of the lockdown. Demand for staff fell at the fastest pace on record and responding companies have cautioned that it could take a long time for businesses to recover from the shock of the pandemic.

According to vice chair at KPMG, James Stewart, “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the UK jobs market with a record drop in vacancies and recruitment plans frozen.”

Other surveys also reveal a bleak outlook among businesses for the coming year. While around 50% of companies surveyed by IoD expressed hope that they could resume pre-pandemic levels of activity with social distancing measures in place, around 20% stated that such a move would cause a reduction in capacity or possibly even prevent them from operating.

Over one third of companies surveyed by Make UK remarked that they did not expect normal trading to resume over the next 6 to 12 months after the pandemic is brought under control. Meanwhile, 17% of companies expected normalcy in operations to resume in more than a year.