More than 160,000 job vacancies existed across Leicester and Leicestershire last year.
Newly-released report data on the local employment market shows that the number of roles was up by 23% from around 130,000 the year before.
Recruits were sought for roles in traditional sectors including health and social care and business, finance, and professional services.
But there were also vacancies in emerging areas of the economy that are creating green jobs and creative vacancies.
World of Work Leicester and Leicestershire is collated annually by the Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) to offer an overview of the local labour market.
It crunches data relating to vacant and advertised roles, skills sought by employers, and roles being created by emerging new sectors and markets.
Anna Cyhan, LLEP Skills Officer and the compiler of the report, said: “We have a healthy labour market with opportunities and roles across the board.
“We have large international and national companies as well as thousands of small and medium enterprises and a good showing of microbusinesses too.
“All of this means there is something out there for anyone looking.
“Many people are not aware of the breadth of sectors open to them and the guide should help individuals to find out more.
“It’s a great time for people looking to develop new or existing skills, with lots of free options, to find themselves a role to match.”
The new World of Work shows that business, finance and professional services accounts for the largest share of employees in the Lecester and Leicestershire economy (74,879), followed by health and social care.
A total of 35,825 people were in health jobs and 21,465 in social care roles. Several of the most advertised roles were for vacancies in the sector.
Transport and logistics, another significant local employer, had more than 38,000 roles locally. The East Midlands Freeport is set to create more roles in the sector.
Public services employed 18,580 workers in roles across organisations including the civil service, local government, and police force.
Meanwhile, more new opportunities were being created across the growing Space and Sport sectors.
The release of World of Work 2022-23 comes after results from the most recent LLEP Business Tracker Survey, conducted in December 2022, suggested that the region is currently in a jobseekers’ market.
In total, 38% of businesses had experienced difficulties with recruitment during the preceding six months, responding with salary rises and increased training.
In response, the LLEP Business Gateway Growth Hub is this week staging a day-long conference to help SMEs build workforce.
Among events will be sessions providing practical ways to overcome recruitment challenges, and attracting and retaining staff.
Also on the agenda during the free event at the Morningside Arena will be practical tips and advice around energy, finance, personal resilience.
Five thousand printed copies of the guide are currently being handed out across the city and county to organisations including Job Centres, adult education centres and careers centres.
- View an online copy of World of Work 2022-23.
