Millions of people could stand to lose their job as a result of the coronavirus – and although the jobs market is currently subdued a new breed of roles are emerging.

According to a study by the University of Essex up to 6.5 million people could lose their jobs as a result of the coronavirus.

On top of this, the number of vacancies in the UK has nose-dived between January and April with businesses battening down their spending.

MORE: Reopening date for Primark confirmedAccording to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in December 817,000 jobs were available in December 2019.

However by April 2020 this had fallen by 180,000 to 637,000.

Bur recruiters in Norfolk have said they have begun to see the “green shoots of recovery” in the job market, and predict roles which will be their first of their kind created.

Melanie Marjoram is the regional manager for Reed and said that slowly but surely the market is picking up.

Ms Marjoram explained: “When the pandemic first became a problem it was the professional service sector which was hit the first – the lawyers, accountants and so on. But now this is the industry which we’re seeing is the first to bounce back.”

She added that throughout the lockdown the tech industry had been subdued but fairly consistent.

“The hospitality and leisure sector at the moment sadly has no activity,” she said. “This is the sector that’s been the hardest hit and may continue to be until we hear more from government.”

She added that for many people the pandemic had created an unexpected opportunity.

“We’ve signed up 150 people for 999 call handlers,” she said. “We’d never encourage people to take risks but at the moment there is the opportunity for a career change if that’s what you wanted.

“We’re seeing roles emerging that we simply didn’t have before because of the virus. Roles like facilities for cleaning and construction companies that have been created because of the pandemic.”

She added: “I think something that’s becoming increasingly apparent is that a lot more businesses are going to be working with remote access. With that in mind I think candidates looking for roles should try and familiarise themselves with some tech training.”