LONDON: The number of job vacancies in London’s financial services sector rose 20 per cent between April and May as employers took comfort from more stable financial markets, according to a recruiter.
Job vacancies in one of the world’s top financial centres rose to 6,426 last month, up from 5,355 in April, according to Morgan McKinley’s London Employment Monitor.
London’s banks and financial services companies have slashed thousands of jobs in recent years following a wave of banking scandals and a protracted period of economic weakness. However, the sector still employs over 1 million people in Britain and contributes almost 10 per cent of gross domestic product, according to TheCityUK, which promotes UK financial services.
The May employment monitor results showed confidence about the potential for business growth was steadily returning, said Hakan Enver, operations director at Morgan McKinley Financial Services.
“As we approach the mid-year point, we have seen less volatility both in the financial markets and also in the wider global economy. Although the market remains highly sensitive to macroeconomic issues, sentiment has slowly been improving since the start of the year,” Enver said.
However, the number of job opportunities appearing in May was almost 60 per cent lower than in May 2012. Enver said this reflected the impact of the large scale redundancies made last year, which have outweighed the number of roles becoming available, and a trend for filling vacancies internally.
The survey, based on Morgan McKinley’s weekly records of new permanent and temporary job vacancies and new candidates registering with the firm for employment, also found that the number of job seekers rose by 7 per cent month-on-month in May as job security became less of a concern.
On average, workers moving to new roles last month pocketed an 8 per cent pay rise versus a 12 per cent gain in April.
The smaller pay rise was down to firms having spent some of their hiring budgets earlier in the year, feeling less pressure to snap up top candidates as markets calmed and people returning to work after a period of redundancy.
(REUTERS)
