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Up to 20,000 jobs will be created in the City over the next three years as banks and fund managers start the slow recovery from the credit crisis, according to a leading economics consultancy.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research today slashed its estimate for job losses in the financial sector during 2009 from 29,000 to 18,000.
This is because of the “unexpected speed with which the economy has turned the corner”.
That means that some 49,000 posts across the wholesale financial sector will have been lost during the financial crisis and it could be years until City employment levels return to their 2007 peak of 345,000. The current City headcount of 305,000 is at its lowest since 1998.
“There will be a diminished rate of job creation in the future with employment in the City not expected to return to peak levels for over a decade,” predicted the CEBR's Benjamin Williamson.
He added: “Re-regulation of London's wholesale financial services sector will act to limit its economic activity over the medium term.
“Whilst the City is still expected to retain its position as one of the world's leading financial centres, growth is likely to remain below recent levels owing to tougher capital requirements and lower yields reducing firms' profits,” he said.
