FEWER jobs are being advertised in Northern Ireland in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, a new study suggests.
The region has seen a drop of 35 per cent in new jobs in the past fortnight, with hospitality, manufacturing and trade roles taking a hit, said jobs site Adzuna.
Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, said: "The last few weeks have been incredibly difficult, we have sadly seen infections increase across the globe and drastic measures put in place to prevent the spread.
"This level of uncertainty, coupled with physical restrictions in movement, has caused an alarming drop in vacancies across the majority of industries, although some like healthcare and delivery-based sectors are growing.
"While it remains difficult to predict the long term effects the virus will have on the economy and the job market, we hope to see employers supporting their staff with flexibility and paid time off to help them through this."
The analysis by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that, as at March 15, Adzuna was listing 820,000 vacancies across the UK, which by April 12 had fallen by 42 per cent to 475,000.
The fall is two-and-a-half times greater than the previous largest single monthly fall, in the depths of the last recession (November 2008).
The largest falls in job openings were in Scotland (down 49 per cent) and London (down 44 per cent) but in Northern Ireland and the north east of England vacancies fall by around 35 per cent, although they account for a small fraction of all job opportunities (2.5 per cent of the total).
Other industries affected by measures to tackle the virus include energy, travel and human resources, where recruitment is well down in recent weeks, said the report.
In contrast, vacancies for domestic help and cleaning jobs have increased by a fifth, said Adzuna.
