Recruiting on the increase as City jobs freeze eases

The number of new job vacancies in the City rose by 14% in May compared with April, but that is still 62% down on a year ago, according to recruitment consultants Morgan McKinley.

Many investment banks stopped recruiting after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September last year. But in recent weeks banks like Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan have begun recruiting quite aggressively as they seek to build advantages over some of their rivals who were worse hit during the credit crunch.

The news comes the day after official unemployment figures showed that 232,000 people lost their jobs in the three months to April, taking the total unemployed in the United Kingdom to 2.26 million.

The Morgan McKinley survey also shows that competition for those City jobs which are available is now at its highest level since the financial crisis began in 2007. Its figures show 8320 people were fighting for the 3150 City vacancies which came up in May.

"As some recent economic indicators have shown, confidence within London's financial services industry has improved over the last few weeks and this has translated into a slight increase in hiring activity during May," said Andrew Evans managing director of Morgan McKinley.

He added: "Recently, a number of firms which had put their recruitment plans on hold for the past six to 12 months have started to hire again, albeit at suppressed levels. While certain pockets of financial services are recruiting more than others, it is interesting to note that for the first time in at least six months, there is now some hiring activity occurring across most areas and levels within the financial services sector in the City. "

Another indicator of the competition to recruit was the fact that average salaries rose 2% to £49,238 in May following a 6% drop in April. The time it took City professionals to find a new job also dropped by six days to an average of 55 days.

Evans said: "The time it is taking for London's financial services professionals to find their next role has fallen. This clearly demonstrates an improvement in the City's appetite to hire. Jobseekers are still facing an extremely competitive jobs market, but one that is slightly more fluid than a year ago.

"Nevertheless, while there are some positive signs in the marketplace, the year on year new jobs figures give a candid picture of how difficult the market still is. Financial institutions remain extremely cautious when making new hires, ensuring they only recruit the highest calibre individuals for specific roles.

"The jobs market continues to be volatile with hiring patterns often changing from month to month and so we will have to wait and see whether the latest month's increase in new job volumes will be sustained over the forthcoming summer period."