Despite the rising availability of job seekers, professional opportunities within the City of London’s financial services sector are appearing to dry up; finds the latest figures from Morgan McKinley‘s recruitment monitor.
According to the company’s data, there was a year-on-year increase of 28 per cent in job seekers in the City between Q3 ’21 and Q3 ’22.
When looking at the figures from a quarterly perspective, the data indicates a 14 per cent increase in job seekers between Q2 ’22 and Q3 ’22.
If these figures are clear, they would represent the largest availability of talent since 2017.
So this suggests that workers are ready to work, but most importantly of all, are there jobs for these people to go to?
According to Morgan McKinley, unfortunately not.
The year-on-year perspective of its data suggests that the availability of financial services jobs within the City decreased by 21 per cent between Q3 ’21 and Q3 ’22.
Worse yet, between Q2 ’22 and Q3 ’22, the number of positions available decreased by an alarming 30 per cent.
So why the disparity?
Well, the company’s managing director, Hakan Enver, attributes the downturn to “the resurgence of post-pandemic overseas travel,” the UK’s summertime political turmoil and, of course, the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
“Many companies understandably put processes on hold during the period of mourning, further impacting hiring rates,” reiterates Enver.
“The rush of jobs are not yet available for those looking for jobs in financial services, which is now at its highest level since 2017.
“The cost of living crisis is causing workers to feel the pinch and seek out new roles with higher pay, better work-life balance, increased job satisfaction and expanded benefits.”
Enver goes on to explain how this could partly explain the Government’s repeal of IR35 reform which, if not u-turned on the Chancellor’s next statement, will pass the responsibility of status back to contractors.
“Considering the compliance and cost implications that many businesses have faced, this has created a talent shortage which has hindered growth,” he continues.
The good news is that those who have managed to switch jobs during the recorded period (Q3 ’22) enjoyed an average salary change of 20 per cent.
“Whilst we witnessed a higher supply of candidates coming to market, this didn’t impact the average salary change too drastically,” Enver commented.
“Despite a five per cent fall compared to the previous quarter, the average salary increase for a finance professional held at 22 per cent (year to date).”
Enver explains how this clearly marks a continued desire to hire the best talent and offer competition packages to secure those individuals.
“We are seeing green shoots of companies needing to tap into talent and continue hiring for niche skills. The world is complex – businesses need sufficient guidance and resources to navigate financial, legal and regulatory issues and many are still replenishing their workforces after the pandemic,” Enver concludes
