Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor - July 2011
'Perfect storm’ conditions impact financial services hiring market in July 11
Highlights
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The Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor registered a 10% fall in the number of available job opportunities coming onto the market month-on-month in July 11
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Compared to the same time last year, there were 18% fewer job opportunities in the City hiring market
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The number of professionals looking for new roles fell by 44% from June 11 to July 11
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This was a decrease of 14% on the number of professional job seekers in the market compared to July 10
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The average salary for those securing new roles in July 11 dropped by 3% compared to salary levels for those starting new roles in July 10
- The time taken to fill new roles rose to 57 days in July 11, up from 47 the previous month.
Slowdown in financial services hiring
The London financial services sector saw a slowdown in hiring activity from June 11 to July 11 according to the latest Morgan McKinley Employment Monitor. The number of jobs new to the market plus those being vacated by people moving on fell by 10% month-on-month from 5,544 down to 4,977 in July 11. Compared to the volume of job opportunities in the City a year ago there was also an 18% decrease from 6,048 to 4,977.
The number of professionals new to the jobs market in July 11 dropped sharply by 44% down from 15,671 in June 11 to 8,770. There was also a decrease compared to the number of job seekers at the same time the previous year, falling by 14% from 10,170 in July 10.
Andrew Evans, Chief Operations Officer, Morgan McKinley Financial Services commented:
“The decline in financial services job opportunities in July 11 is unsurprising given recent economic issues: there is currently significant turmoil in financial markets; banks are reducing headcounts; Q2 results were on the whole below expectations, plus the summer holiday period typically sees a slowdown in recruitment activity. In addition, we are only just beyond the mid-point of the year with several months of H2 still to go and a real lack of clarity on how the rest of the year will play out. These current issues have come together at this point in time to create a ‘perfect storm’ in the City hiring market, which is to some extent reflected across global financial centres around the world.
“The number of professionals entering the jobs market in July 11 has seen a particularly sharp fall compared to June 11. This is also a result of the uncertainty caused by these multiple factors colliding to unsettle the market at the same time. Although there is still a healthy number of people who are open to new job opportunities, the sudden drop in job seeker numbers suggests a ‘head down’ approach being adopted by some of those so far not affected by staff cutbacks. The 10% month-on-month decrease also reflects the quieter holiday period with fewer people looking for new roles.
“Despite turbulence in the financial services sector, hiring has not completely ground to a halt. We are still seeing financial institutions focused on securing top talent in certain areas of the market. However, talent retention and internal career development have now risen up the agenda for many HR and line managers under pressure to reduce overheads while driving business performance.”
Compensation holds steady in the City
The average salary for those securing new roles in July 11 fell slightly by 2% to £50,591 from the average pay of professionals who took up new roles in June 11. The time taken to fill new roles has risen by 10 days to 57 days in July 11.
Andrew Evans added:
“The candidate selection and job offer process took longer in July 11. As banks focus on cost efficiencies, decision-making over job specifications and compensation has become prolonged. These extended negotiations have been reflected by a slight dip in the average salary for new joiners in July 11 compared to the average salary for professionals starting new jobs in June 11.”
-ENDS-
Chart 1: Financial services jobs new to the market
Chart 2: Candidates available (in and out of employment)
Chart 3: Average salaries for new candidate placements
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