England’s second lockdown has meant that estimates of when the UK economy will recover have been pushed back to 2022.

Across the 12 nations and regions of the UK, half have higher numbers of job adverts than in March, with North West England leading the recovery. On average the number of job adverts is at 70% what it was this time last year but rising. Manufacturing, construction, finance, engineering, law, marketing, healthcare, education and management are recovering well, whilst hospitality and leisure are still comparatively low.

Graduate recruitment hasn’t been as hard hit as many graduate roles have been able to transition to remote-working. Graduate recruitment in 2021 will probably be up from 2020. It’s likely that home-working will become a permanent trend, so it’s worth remembering that your OU studies have given you significant experience at it.

Recruitment strategies are also likely to change permanently as employers shift their student-engagement activities online (see our list of upcoming employer events). In the recruitment process, many organisations have moved their assessment centres online (as a selection of employers explain in this YouTube video), but they’ll probably go back to being face-to-face once it’s safe to do so.