The financial services sector in London registered a decrease of 5% in job opportunities new to the market, dropping from 4,977 in October 10 to 4,725 in November 10 – the same level of job vacancies as September 10. This represented an increase of 9% from November 09 when there were 4,347 new vacancies in the financial services jobs market.
November 10 also saw a small rise in the number of professionals interested in new roles, with a 3% increase from 9,100 to 9,390. Compared to the same time a year ago, November 10 saw a 22% increase in professionals entering the jobs market.
Andrew Evans, Managing Director, Morgan McKinley Financial Services commented: “The fall in new jobs available across the financial services sector in November 10 is not surprising and is consistent with the time of year when recruitment activity traditionally slows ahead of bonus payments. Also, hiring activity in Q4 to date has been slower compared to Q3 due to some caution entering the City, which filtered through to the jobs market. Despite this November 10 decrease, job vacancies remain at the same level as September 10 and pleasingly, every single month in the last year has seen an increased number of job vacancies, compared to the corresponding month a year ago. This in itself illustrates the overall increased level of City hiring in 2010, compared to 2009.”
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“As 2010 draws to a close, hiring managers will likely prioritise only those roles which must be filled before the Christmas break, waiting until the new year to release further jobs. In addition, the general trend for increased recruitment activity across the sector this year suggests that the start of 2011 will see a rise in job availability compared to Q4.”
Financial services salaries rise again
The average salary of those placed in new roles across the financial services sector in November 10 rose by 6% to reach £54,145, compared to the average salary of those securing roles the previous month. The time to hire dropped from 52 days to a particularly low 41 days month-on-month.
Andrew Evans continued: “A rise in salaries, is generally a positive indicator of the jobs market holding up, so as we approach year end it’s pleasing to see an increase both compared to the previous month and to November 09. November 10 saw an increased number of roles filled at the more senior end of the market, which has driven up the average salary. This coincides with the significantly decreased time taken to hire, and it may well be the case that there has been an end-of-year move in a number of financial institutions to secure senior talent relatively quickly to get a head start on planned strategic business activity for 2011.”
