The Vacancy Survey (VS) is a statutory, monthly survey of businesses. The survey asks a single question: how many job vacancies did businesses have in total (on a specified date) for which they were actively seeking recruits from outside their organisation. Results from the survey cover all sectors of the UK economy and all industries, with the exception of employment agencies and agriculture, forestry and fishing. The headline series are based on 3 month moving averages, by type of industry and by employment count. Vacancy statistics are not available by region.
The vacancy survey produces monthly estimates of job vacancies across the whole economy. Online questionnaires are sent to a sample of approximately 6000 businesses every month, approached mainly via head offices.
The survey covers all sectors of the economy and all industries in England, Scotland and Wales (Great Britain) with the exception of employment agencies (to avoid double-counting of vacancies) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (because of the disproportionate costs involved as these industries mainly consist of very small businesses with few vacancies). Northern Ireland businesses are not approached because of the risk of overlap with other surveys conducted by Northern Ireland departments.
Estimates for UK are derived by weighing up the data for Great Britain using employment estimates (Northern Ireland accounts for around 3% of UK employment). The headline series are based on 3-month moving averages, by type of industry and by employment count. Vacancy statistics are not available by region.