The UK jobs market has not seen the collapse many experts predicted would follow the furlough scheme ending, official data from both the ONS and HMRC reveal.

Instead, employers are struggling to find the people to fill roles, vacancies for which have more than doubled over the past year.

This is mirrored within the property industry, which has seen the number of vacancies jump by 80%, helping push up median pay by 11.4% since the housing market re-opened last year as employers lure new recruits with better packages.

And as we report separately today, it is this level of pay inflation that is worrying the Bank of England, prompting its governor to consider an interest rate rise before Xmas.

Josh Rayner (pictured), CEO of leading property recruitment agency Rayner Personnel says: “The property recruitment sector has mirrored the sales and rental markets in that it too is hotter than ever right now with companies chasing candidates hard and offering far better remuneration packages as a consequence.

“Vacancies are chasmic and agents are being tempted with ever more attractive deals.

For us, the intensity of the recruitment space has meant that we are going to double the size of our business by summer 2022 and are also needing to attract associates to come and work with us too.

“This ‘pull’ from a relatively small circle of people will continue to create a ‘candidates market’ for a while yet and employers that think that this is all going to smooth out soon, are sadly mistaken.”