Cambridge the easiest UK city to find a job in

University city rivals Oxford and Cambridge have overtaken Swindon to become the top cities in the UK to find a job, according to the latest research from job search engine Adzuna.

In Cambridge, 25x more jobs are being advertised than there are jobseekers looking for positions, with the ratio of jobseekers to vacancies falling to 0.04 in February 2019, the best odds for jobseekers across all UK cities.

This also represents the lowest competition rate recorded since Adzuna began monitoring the data seven years ago.

Not to be outdone, Oxford is just behind with 20 jobs per jobseeker (0.05 jobseekers per vacancy), the second best rate in the UK. This is the first time that the two famous university cities have overtaken Swindon (0.051) as the easiest place to find a job. Competition levels across all three southern cities are substantially beneath the UK average of 0.26 jobseekers per vacancy.

Perhaps as a result of the tough hiring conditions for employers, jobseekers in these locations can also expect better pay. Advertised salaries in Cambridge averaged £38,387 in February, Oxford opportunities offered £36,177 and Swindon roles advertised £41,454, all significantly above the UK average of £35,058.

Cambridge leads the way in terms of total opportunities for jobseekers offering 9,530 vacancies in February, nearly double Oxford’s 4,886. Meanwhile, Swindon saw 4,476 roles on offer.

The IT sector is leading the jobs boom in both Oxford and Cambridge, according to the data. There are currently 1,320 IT vacancies advertised in growing tech-hub Cambridge, with two of the city’s top 5 employers falling within this field: IoT firm ARM (182 vacancies) and video game developer Jagex (73 vacancies). Oxford currently has 678 advertised IT vacancies, including with game developer Rebellion (28 vacancies).

Both cities also have strong expertise in Engineering, Trade & Construction and Healthcare & Nursing, with other top employers including biomedical engineers AstraZeneca (67 vacancies) in Cambridge and biopharmaceutical company Oxford BioMedica (61 vacancies) in Oxford.