Doncaster jobs: Employers say they’re ‘struggling to attract candidates’ to fill roles in the town

New research into the effects on employment due to the Covid-19 pandemic found that unemployment in Doncaster doubled with the hardest hit being those aged 16 to 24.

Doncaster had reasonably high unemployment pre-pandemic of nearly 3.82 per cent to 7.62 per cent – but remained broadly in line with other South Yorkshire areas. Doncaster has a current claimant rate of 5.36 per cent.

This equates to just over 10,000 people in the working age bracket.

But youth unemployment however showed a ‘significant increase’ as an impact of Covid-19 with it being much higher than its South Yorkshire neighbours at 11.11 per cent (3,180) of 16-24 year olds.

Youth claimant numbers have reduced throughout 2021 by February 2022, the figure stands at six per cent (1,720 people).

The youth unemployment figure has decreased so much that the highest claimant bracket is those aged 25-49 – the first time this has happened since records began in 1986.

There have been over 26,000 job postings over the last twelve months, with the greatest proportion of job vacancies to be found within lower-skilled occupations such as care work, elementary storage and sales.

In both Doncaster and South Yorkshire more generally, the demand for high skilled workers exceeds the supply, whereas the supply of middle and low-skilled workers outstrips the demand for those skills, the report said.

Claire Cardwell, employment and enterprise manager at Doncaster Council, said: “A key point highlighted within the report to note is the abundance of jobs available in Doncaster.

“However employers are reporting finding it increasingly difficult to attract candidates and fill vacancies, which shows disconnect between vacancies and available workforce including unemployed residents.

“The biggest issue we currently face is trying to engage the unengaged, the unmotivated and the reluctant to work.

“A priority is also to support people’s health and mental health to reduce the number of people on a ‘health journey’ and increase the number of people available for work and entering the labour market.

“This all must be supported by high quality investment and business growth enabling high quality employment for our residents and also support for people to upskill and retrain into available work, to ensure our residents can benefit from higher level jobs.”