City firms are hiring again
LONDON’S financial institutions are hiring again, according to figures showing that new job vacancies in the City were up 14 per cent in May compared to the previous month.
Improved confidence in the industry as a whole – coupled with rising business volumes in areas like investment banking – have driven the increase in hiring at financials, according to recruitment firm Morgan McKinley’s London Employment Monitor.
However, the report said the credit crunch had wreaked havoc on the jobs market since last year, with 62 per cent fewer new job opportunities arising compared to May last year.
But enthusiasm for the financial sector among graduates was up, with the volume of new candidates registering their interest for a role in the sector up by 18 per cent during May compared to April. The average City salary also rose slightly, up two per cent on the previous year, to £49,238.
Andrew Evans, managing director of Morgan McKinley said: “It is interesting that for the first time in at least six months, there is some hiring across most areas and levels within the financial sector in the City.”
Meanwhile, research by the Institute of Chartered Accountants revealed that confidence among business professionals rose in the second quarter of 2009 for the first time since the final quarter of 2007.
The organisation’s Business Confidence Monitor index for London now stands at -36.2, an increase of over 16 points from the last quarter, when a record low score of -52.5 was recorded.