Nearly two-thirds of Brits willing to retrain post-COVID

59% of Brits have said they’re willing to reskill and retrain in a new line of work following the coronavirus pandemic; as a lack of jobs forces people to consider searching in different sectors. 

CV-Library surveyed 1,700 UK professionals to gain an understanding of how workers feel about their job search, with 51.8% saying it’s because they want to make themselves more employable.

Following this, 32.4% say it’s because they can’t find a job and 32% and because they want better job security. A further 30.3% say they want to do a more meaningful job; 29.1% want a role with a higher salary; and 18.5% say they simply want to change industries. 

When looking at the data by industry, the findings reveal that professionals in the charity (92.9%) sector were most likely to want to reskill in a new line of work; followed by professionals in customer service (80.6%), leisure/tourism (75%), hospitality (73.9%) and manufacturing (69.4%). 

CV-Library conducted further analysis to see which industries people in different sectors are applying for jobs in. The data shows that professionals who work in charity have been applying for work in administration, social care and education first; while workers in hospitality have been looking for opportunities in construction and administration. 

In addition to this, retail professionals have been applying for jobs in administration, construction and customer service; and catering professionals have been searching for roles in construction, distribution and hospitality. 

Naturally, certain industries have been hit a lot harder than others and this is reflected in the findings. For this reason, professionals in key sectors have had no choice but to consider finding a job in a completely new line of work. Over the next 12 months, we expect to see this trend continue and will be monitoring it closely to see what else emerges. 

CV-Library says the job market is going to be impacted by the pandemic for a long time, especially as we are now officially in a recession. Going forward, it says employers will need to be more open to hiring people from different sectors and professionals must be more open to opportunities outside of their traditional remit.