City jobs on the up

City job vacancies have risen to their highest number recorded this year, according to the latest Morgan McKinley employment monitor in October.

City job vacancies have risen to their highest number recorded this year, according to the latest Morgan McKinley employment monitor in October.

The monitor shows that the number of new financial services job vacancies in London rose by 15% compared to September, while October also saw the smallest year-on-year percentage decrease in new job numbers for 16 months.

Financial professionals looking for a new role grew in October by 6% on September.

It took candidates 56 days to secure a new role, while the average City salary registered was £51,350 compared to £52,142 in September 2009 and £48,021 in October 2008.

Andrew Evans, managing director of Morgan McKinley’s financial services division, says: “The City jobs market has and continues to see a general trend of improvement each month and October’s figures are consistent with this pattern. London’s financial services recruitment market is in a very different place compared to 12 months ago when City hiring was in the midst of a downward trend which saw job volumes contract from month-to-month.

“Progress has been slow and somewhat unsteady over the course of 2009 but hiring within London’s financial services sector is following an upward trend as confidence starts to return, slowly but surely.
 
“Amongst financial services employers, the appetite to hire has improved and this is encouraging individuals to start testing the jobs market and see what opportunities are out there. That said, seasonal factors are expected to kick in during November, which will mean new job opportunities and possibly candidate flow will slow over the next three months. February 2010 will be a good indicator as to whether the measured uplift in job numbers seen over the past six months will continue throughout 2010.”

And the bounce-back in City recruitment has been good news for both HR and IT recruiters.

Anthony Pierce, director at Hudson HR, told Recruiter: “September and October were the busiest we have been with City jobs for an awful long time.

“There were a lot of new jobs. In-house recruiters are in demand, particularly graduate recruiters. They are also recruiting for compensation and benefits, learning and talent management roles.

“There is a greater confidence in the greater economy, although I don’t think it’s time to be opening the champagne yet.”

Brent Harris, UK head of permanent recruitment at Aston Carter, adds:“We have noticed a significant increase in the number of IT roles not only within financial services sector but also the wider IT market.

“The demand for high-end technologists is returning to levels seen last in the halcyon days of 2007, pre-recession. Market activity was quieter by comparison for most of 2008.”

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