More than one in three City workers moved jobs last year amid frustration over career progression

The scale of churn in the City has been brought to light today, with new data showing almost 40 per cent of professionals in the Square Mile moved jobs last year.

Frustration over a lack of career progression was the chief cause for switching jobs among financial workers in 2018, according to the latest financial markets report from recruitment giant Hays.

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Salary dissatisfaction and a lack of development opportunities also played a role, according to the poll of 1,300 employers and employees in financial markets.

“Salary will always remain an important factor to get right, but it’s clear City professionals expect more than just a competitive salary to stay in a role,” said Tom Hawkins, director of Hays Financial Markets.

He added: “Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, career development and progression is something employers do need to have on their agenda this year.

The figures come on the same day as a new report showed nearly three in every four businesses who attempt to hire new staff faced recruitment difficulties in the third quarter amid an ongoing skills shortage in the UK.

While more than half of British firms recruited in the last three months, some 73 per cent said that they faced difficulties, marking a rise from 64 per cent in the previous quarter.

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The findings, released today by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and Totaljobs, also showed that more than one in four British companies are planning to expand their headcount ahead of Christmas, while two thirds believe their workforce numbers will not change.

Despite concerns over Brexit deadlock, the report concluded that the labour market performance and expectations are holding up “fairly well”.

Only 11 per cent of businesses have decreased their workforce in quarter three, with one in four businesses increasing their total headcount.

“Jobseekers will welcome the fact that many businesses are continuing to hire staff, but policymakers should be alarmed that skills shortages continue to bedevil firms – particularly in the skilled roles that will be needed to drive healthy manufacturing and export performance following Brexit,” said BCC director general Adam Marshall.