Recovery drives resurgence in finance hiring
UPBEAT companies hired more staff in June than at any time in the past two years, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco) said today.
The number of permanent placements made by the recruiters jumped 33 per cent compared with the same period of last year.
Finance and accounting hiring jumped 39 per cent, and the extra demand fed through to salaries – the pay of those getting new jobs is up seven per cent on the year.
The engineering sector is even more buoyant, with permanent placements up 41 per cent compared with past year.
However Apsco noted that soaring hiring and rising pay could indicate that a skills shortage might be sparked in the near future, which would leave British firms in a worse position than their overseas rivals.
Overall, professional salaries are down 1.2 per cent on the year. But individuals sectors, including finance, are relative hot spots, and show where demand is most intense.
It follows several years of banks hiring more accounting and compliance staff to meet new regulations – a trend which has focused on finance workers with very specific sets of skills.
“Recruiters are now having to cope with the novelty of escalating demand after many years just focused on beating down costs,” said John Nurthen from Staffing Industry Analysts, which compiled the data.
“Because of the lessons learnt during the downturn, the recruitment industry today is more efficient and more effective than the one that entered the financial crisis in 2008 and is in a much better position to capitalise on these positive trends.”