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.
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?
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.
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.
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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Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.
The Manc -
1st September 2020 
