As a new month arrives – marking the 24th week since the country was officially placed into lockdown – the UK government is now actively encouraging the British public to begin returning to work.
A lot has changed in the world of work since 23rd March.
Last month, it was confirmed that the UK had fallen into recession after suffering the largest drop in employment in more than a decade.
The news of the recession brought with it the cold hard facts are that many more people in Manchester will lose their jobs, with Manchester City Council Leader, Sir Richard Leese, stating that “recovering from the impacts of the coronavirus period and getting the city back on a positive trajectory is the greatest challenge we have faced in our lifetimes,”.
The ‘new normal’ has seen millions of people have their version of a typical working day altered in some capacity or another, but now it seems that things are beginning to gradually improve.
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Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has also issued a statement this week encouraging workers from across the region to begin a “voluntary” and “safety-led” return to the workplace, but for those who have unfortunately found themselves without a job to return to, or for those who feel in need of change in career direction, are the job opportunities there?
And what sectors are actively recruiting at the moment?
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Mark Waugh
The good news is that newly-released data has shown a continued rise in the number of job roles across posted in total throughout August, and this has thus prompted experts and recruiters to begin pinpointing which careers are the most in-demand across the UK, as well as which sectors are currently hiring.
The analysis found that there were 1.10 million active job postings in the week starting 3rd August – with almost 126,000 adverts posted between 3rd – 9th August – which is up from 1.04 million in the previous week.
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The previous high was the first week of June with 112,000 new postings.
Overall, the volume of online job adverts posted in August was at 62% of the 2019 average – which is up from 53% the week before – with several professions seeing continued or increased demand, and whilst these figures do however remain below the 1.35 million job postings active before lockdown in the first week of March, it is still encouraging.
Unsplash – mangopear
When it comes to which sectors are actively hiring, recruiters and experts have offered their takes.
Gerwyn Davies – Analyst at Human Resources body CIPD – says that job-seekers should be ”strategic” and target sectors that are experiencing job shortages as well as those that are growing.
With data indicating that health and social care vacancies are almost back to 2019 levels, he has suggested that now could be a good time to join the public sector, especially as initiatives like the National Retraining Scheme is helping people to move into areas like social work, teaching and healthcare.
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The government is also planning to fund thousands of nurse apprenticeships in England too.
Amy Golding – Head of Technology Recruitment at Opus Talent Solutions – has also suggested job-seekers apply to companies which are fully digital, regardless of the role you want, as the pandemic has accelerated the shift to online working, and these could for example be online retail companies like Amazon – which is currently recruiting for 15,000 UK jobs – or perhaps tech companies working in education or healthcare.
The government’s Shortage Occupation List – which used to offer work visas to people moving to the UK – is also a useful tool for job-seekers as it quickly shows where workers are needed.
It includes jobs in a wider range of fields like engineering, web programming, graphic design and more.
You can find more recruitment information via the REC website here.
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Adventurous cat caught taking a train from Yorkshire to Manchester Airport
Daisy Jackson
Train conductors have reunited an adventurous senior cat with her owners after she was caught taking a train all the way to Manchester Airport.
15-year-old Angel was discovered on board an hour-long TransPennine Express service from West Yorkshire to the airport.
The black-and-white moggy had been strolling along the train making friends with passengers on board, following conductor Will Saunders through the carriages.
It turns out Angel is something of a local legend in Brighouse, and has been caught riding rail replacement buses in the past too, as well as making herself at home in the local pub.
On this occasion, she fancied herself a little holiday and hopped on board the 3.55am service from Brighouse to Manchester Airport.
Will kept a close eye on the gorgeous cat all the way to Manchester Airport, where they settled her into a cardboard box at the station.
Will then took Angel home to Stockport for the night to keep her safe, later discovering a phone number on Angel’s collar.
He and his partner then drove Angel all the way back home to Brighouse.
Will Saunders, conductor at TPE, said: “As a cat lover myself, I couldn’t leave her to fend for herself. She was so calm and confident on the train – it was like she’d done it before!
“I’m just glad we could keep her safe and get her back home. She’s clearly a much-loved cat.”
Andrew McClements, Customer Experience & Transformation Director at TPE, added: “Our teams are used to helping customers reach their destinations, but this was definitely one of our more unusual passengers.
“We’re just glad we could make sure this adventurous feline made it home safely.”
Now back where she belongs, Angel’s tale shows that even the most curious traveller can count on TPE to help them land on their paws.
Mulligans are making butties with the team behind some of the best sandwiches in Manchester
Danny Jones
We feel like we say this almost every time they set up one of these crossovers, but Bada Bing might have just hit it out of the park with their latest collaboration, as they’re teaming up with beloved Irish bar Mulligans to create what could be the sandwich of the century.
In case you’re wondering where we’ll be when this butty becomes available, we’ll be in the legendary Manchester pub, clutching at least three of these while asking the live band to play The Sopranos theme tune in full Celtic reel fashion.
Yes, two of our very favourite places in the city centre are teaming up not just for a one-off special, the Deansgate boozer – widely considered one of the best Irish bars (if not THE best) in Manchester – is actually going to be supplying the crucial ingredient in their limited-time menu item.
Teasing the collab earlier this week, the Bada Bing boys roped in Mulligans owner, Pádraig Brady, to play his role in the announcement that quickly went viral.
Now, in case you weren’t already salivating at the mere thought of it, wait until you hear what concoction they have come up with.
Simply titled ‘Split the B’ (nice), the Bada Bing x Mulligans special edition sandwich features Mulligans’ Guinness-braised short rib, crispy spuds, greens, pickled cabbage and crispy onions. Oh. My. Word…
With punters’ favourite ‘Mullies’ pouring in more than 13,000 pints of the black stuff every single week, it won’t surprise you to learn that those lines have to be cleaned and maintained almost constantly.
It also goes without saying that wasting even a single drop of that liquid gold is a tragedy, so they had the ingenious of using that surplus stout to create a limited supply of slow-roasted, Guinness-flavoured beef fit to grace any authentic Irish stew.
Slap that meat between bread, and what do you get? Perhaps one of the greatest culinary creations we Manchester foodies have ever seen.
Speaking on the collab, Pádraig said: “At Mulligans, we take pride in every pint of Guinness we pour, so when the chance came up to team up with Bada Bing and create something special for Mancs to enjoy beyond the pub, it just made sense. Quality recognises quality.”
“We’ve always admired Mulligans for how they do things – with no shortcuts”, says Sam Gormally, co-founder of Bada Bing.”
He went on to add: “This collab celebrates everything we both love about Manchester hospitality – craft, quality and a bit of heart. It’s a proper Manc sandwich, made with a proper pint.”
In case it wasn’t already blatantly obvious, we cannot wait to try this thing, and since it’s only being served for a few days, we intend to eat as many as possible.
The ‘Split the B’ Mulligans x Bada Bing Guinness Sandwich will be available exclusively at Bada Bing, 125 Oldham St in the Northern Quarter from Thursday, 6 November – and once they’re gone, they’re GONE.
The Manc -
1st September 2020 
