As Britain begins to make its way out of the recession, we should be prepared for the job market to take a little longer to recover; the high unemployment figures that we have been left with, alongside the low number of jobs currently available cannot be expected to level out overnight.

What happened during the recession?

According to the official definition, a recession occurs after economic decline - measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country - occurs two consecutive quarters in a row. Britain has been unfortunate enough to see its economy shrink for five consecutive quarters, its unemployment figures reaching 2.46million people. But what effect did this have on SEO jobs?

During the recession, companies will have been trying to cut costs. The best way to do this is would of course have been to cut back on expenses, and to assess where money was being spent on things that were not vital to the survival of the business. One of the most obvious areas to have made cutbacks will have been staffing levels, which has on the whole, resulted in there being fewer positions available.

Another area that is likely to have suffered the effects of budgeting, is marketing. However so far, online marketers have been able to use this to their advantage. Online marketing is a cheaper alternative to more traditional offline campaigns, and as such online marketing companies saw a certain amount of growth and success during the recession. As a direct result of this, online marketing positions such as PPC and SEO jobs saw a rise, rather than a fall, in numbers.

What is likely to happen after the recession?

A recent spate of recovery signs suggest that Britain is now well on its way to coming out of the recession. However recovery cannot happen overnight. Unfortunately the job market is likely to continue to suffer the adverse effects of the economic decline as companies look to keep expenditure low during the recovery period.

Research suggests that with 55 per cent of survey respondents stating that they expect to see their SEO budgets increase in the next twelve months, online marketing is likely to continue to prosper as we leave the recession. With PPC campaigns being relatively cost-effective, and able to be tailored to suit all budgets, and email marketing campaigns having the capacity to reach large numbers of people, online marketing is a low-investment strategy that can be very effective.

If, as Britain begins to recover, agencies continue to capitalise on the online marketing opportunities that have arisen during the recession, there is a high chance that online marketing positions, such as SEO jobs, will continue to be in demand.

Rising Above the Recession

Recessions are difficult for everyone, and it can be all too easy to assume that the end of a recession equals instant recovery. It is important for jobseekers to remain positive during this recovery period. Opportunities exist no matter what the state of the economy, if you can work out what they are. As Britain works hard to continue pulling itself up and out of the recession, so should marketing agencies continue capitalising on the move from offline to online, and jobseekers try to reflect this in the sorts of jobs that they apply for.