The latest London Employment Monitor from Morgan McKinley shows that there was a 10% month-on-month decline in the number of new City jobs last month.
The study shows that opportunities fell to 4,977 in July, down from 5,544 the previous month and down from 6,048 in July 2010. The number of professional jobseekers and umbrella company contractors looking for a position in July fell by 14% year- on-year and a massive 44% month-on-month. It also took longer to fill a new role in July; up to 57 days from 47 in June.
The COO of Morgan McKinley Financial Services, Andrew Evans, said it’s not surprising that the number of employment opportunities in financial services has declined when you consider current economic issues, such as the turmoil in the global financial markets. Furthermore, the summer holiday season traditionally sees recruitment activity slowing down.
Hiring has not stopped completely despite turbulence in the sector but many companies are now focusing more on career development and talent retention to reduce overheads whilst at the same time driving business performance.
Leading banks recently announced job cuts but the REC stressed that specialised recruiters will still have a leading role to play in sourcing high calibre temporary and permanent staff within the banking sector.
HSBC intends to cut 30,000 jobs globally before the end of 2013 and Lloyds plans to reduce its workforce by 15,000 over the next two and a half years. This uncertainty has led to 32% of employees in the banking sector saying they are looking for a new opportunity.
Ed McRandal, the policy advisor for the REC, explained that financial services were amongst the first to be affected by the credit crisis and showed the first signs of recovery. However, demand has levelled off significantly in recent months.
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