In a market where law graduates are getting knocked back for jobs at McDonald’s, it seems rather unfathomable that employers are struggling to fill vacancies, yet it remains the case for some that high unemployment brought about by Covid has not made it any easier to recruit new workers.

Liverpool John Moores University law graduate Eve Hammond recently went “mega-viral” after posting her emailed rejection from the fast food chain, in which McDonald’s explained that it has a “really rigorous selection process” and “a large number of people” applying on a daily basis. Her post struck a chord with hundreds of thousands finding it difficult to secure employment amid the economic destruction caused by the pandemic.

That’s why Glasgow businessman Bill Roddie has been left puzzled by his inability to fill jobs at Spectrum Properties, which operates more than 700 commercial sites across the city. The family-owned company currently employs 75 people, all paid at above the Living Wage rate.

“Right now, we would love to hire 10 people in a range of roles including drivers, motor mechanics, labourers, bench hands and accounts assistants, but we are struggling,” he said.

“We advertise on one of Scotland’s leading jobs websites and receive fewer job applications than we would like, but we have found that a significant number of people fail to show up for their arranged interviews.

“It is then even more baffling that all too many people who have been offered roles in our business, every one of which pays above the Living Wage rate, do not appear on the day they are due to start with us.”

Mr Roddie speculates whether the furlough programme, which is now extended until the end of March, is “trapping people in a mindset where they fear going to work”. David Hughes, employment partner with Addleshaw Goddard, said there could be a degree of reluctance among some to take jobs that require them to regularly go out in public while Covid-19 infection rates remain high.

Coupled with that is the fact there is little incentive right now for employers who have furloughed workers to put staff members on redundancy notice, as that would cut off access to government furlough money. This appears to be creating an atmosphere of “wait and see” among many workers who are collecting 80 per cent of their pay now, even though their jobs could be under threat in the coming months.

Among those who have been let go are significant numbers who have not had to go through the application process or renew qualifications for quite some time. While they may have operated a forklift or driven an HGV in the earlier part of their careers, and could thus return to that type of work, the expiry of their qualifications is a hurdle to making an immediate shift.

“It is that type of stuff that we are seeing coming through more and more, particularly in these Covid times where people are being let go by employers they have worked for for 10 or 20 years, where they have made their way up the ranks,” says Arlene Callan, employability director at PeoplePlus.

Louise Hamill of Hamill Homecare says hiring has been a “challenge”. She has attempted to recruit six new members of staff during the past four months to meet rising demand, but so far has only successfully filled two posts.

She has received hundreds of applications, though many are from people without the necessary credentials. Once those are stripped out, Ms Hamill said her firm must then move fast.

“I think there are instances where people have put out applications far and wide, with a kind of panic because they just need a job,” she said. “They will take the first thing that comes along, and that might be usurping them away from their preferred sector.”

The shortage of skilled staff across the care and health sectors has become more acute as Brexit approaches, as EU nationals have long held a large proportion of these roles. It is a similar situation in food production and manufacturing, with Shan Saba of industrial recruitment specialist Brightwork noting that few UK nationals are currently involved in picking crops or processing.

“In the market at this time, most job seekers are not ready to face that kind of work yet,” he said. “In that sense, we are lagging behind.”