The current state of the further education jobs market

Covid-19’s eventual impact on the further education (FE) sector is not entirely clear as the UK looks to put the pandemic behind it and edge towards some sort of normality. At present, the FE jobs market “has been reasonably stagnant over the last 12 months”, explains Jon Downing, HR Systems and Development Manager for Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group.

As a result of individuals wishing to see exactly what the market looks like post-Covid-19, many have opted to remain in the post they held before lockdown. Jon continues: “What would be our natural turnover for the year I think has been pretty stagnant, just because of the uncertainty; people want to stay put until things get a bit more on an even keel.”

Are there opportunities in the FE jobs market?

Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, authored a paper called ‘The Coming Jobs Boom’ in 2021 that suggests there is cause for optimism in the jobs market on the whole as the economy reopens and pent-up consumer demand can be satisfied. Meanwhile, research carried out by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 7.2% more graduates are expected to be hired from the 2021 college graduate intake than the 2020 cohort.

This is a trend that Jon sees in the FE sector: “All of a sudden, our curriculum planning has boosted quite a bit and we now need way more staffing requirements in certain areas than we’ve anticipated.”

Has the FE jobs market changed?

Speaking in May, Jon described that month as being the point in the year which is “a natural sort of slight peak in terms of resignations for us”. The change in working habits necessitated by the lockdown may see college staff taking a fresh look at their priorities. “We're getting quite a few retirements and early retirements, in fact, where people have maybe had quite a bit of time at home and re-evaluated their circumstances,” Jon says.

While a rise in retirements may leave the door open for new entrants into the FE sector, increasing amounts of remote working “gives colleges more ability and organisations in general to expand as well”, according to Jon. Underlining the extent of the opportunities available in the market, Jon states: “We're pretty much up to capacity, building-wise. If we could have built this building again, a second time, we’d have made it a third bigger most likely.”

Is it a good time to start a new career in the FE sector?

When asked if he had any experience of experienced professionals who are looking to take on a part-time role in FE as a change of career, Jon says that “people, irrespective of qualifications, have very different reasons for applying for vacancies”.

“We’ve had staff here who have been directors of reasonably high-level companies but have stepped away from that or the company may have closed,” he says. “They want to come to teaching, they don't want to be running huge departments and have that responsibility anymore.”

Jon is keen to stress that prospective candidates shouldn’t be put off launching a career in the FE sector: “I certainly would not discourage anyone from applying because they feel they may be overqualified.” Although it may beg the question at interview that you are giving up a good salary so what’s your reason for leaving? Jon explains that he and his colleagues would “never rule out someone who on paper may be overqualified”.

How best to address the construction skills shortage?

Construction and engineering continue to be two subjects that are crying out for teachers at FE level. “In most cases, in all honesty, people just earn more money in the private sector than in the FE sector,” acknowledges Jon. “However, in construction, there may be individuals that are fed up of working away, or working on site, for example. I think education offers has got a lot to offer in terms of a bit more job security, definitely better leave entitlements, maybe better pension schemes, maybe giving something back, in particular, coaching and supporting students through some of these qualifications.”

A report conducted by St. Modwen Homes and the Chartered Institute for Further Education in 2021 found that “in order to produce more qualified young people who can look forward to worthwhile careers in the construction industry, schools, further education providers, employers and government must all play their parts in working collectively to remove some of the barriers to progress”.

It found that 168,500 new jobs are required in UK construction by 2023 with 2.79m people set to be employed in the sector by the end of that year. Despite these predictions, construction and engineering subjects at FE level continue to prove hard to fill. To counter this at his institution, Jon states that “we’ve just put some kind of market forces salary to that to try to counter that problem”.