Rising City openings signal hiring upturn

New job vacancies in the City last month rose to their highest level this year, reinforcing tentative signs of an improvement in financial services employers’ confidence about hiring, according to a report to be published on Thursday.

Morgan McKinley, the financial recruitment specialist, said vacancies were up by 18 per cent in August – normally a quiet time because of summer holidays – compared with the previous month.

The rise is evidence of the continuing improvement in City employers’ appetite to hire, which has been building up over the past few months, the consultancy said.

But in spite of the month-on-month increase, there were still 39 per cent fewer new job opportunities coming on to the market compared with a year ago.

“There has been an obvious progression in terms of confidence levels within the City hiring market. This increased commitment to hire, coupled with positive results from the FTSE recently and an improving mergers and acquisitions outlook, will, hopefully, drive the continuation of encouraging jobs figures into September,” said Andrew Evans, managing director of Morgan McKinley’s financial services division.

He added: “However, if we’ve learnt anything from this downturn, it is not to be too nonchalant about what’s ahead. Visibility is still very poor but, in terms of the future health of financial services recruitment, last month’s upbeat figures suggest that things are moving in the right direction.”

The number of jobseekers was 19 per cent lower than in July, as some people delayed their search during the summer holidays. However, for those who did secure a role in August, it took an average of 56 days, which was 3½ days less than it took their counterparts a year ago.

The average City salary remained relatively flat at £50,574, registering a nominal increase of 0.3 per cent compared with the same month last year and a decrease of 5 per cent compared with July.

Mr Evans said: “City compensation has really come to the fore over the past few months but, as we currently stand, many organisations are still reviewing their compensation structures and are yet to make any firm decisions, apart from in a few isolated cases.

“With bonus season fast approaching, there is no doubt that the debate on City compensation will heat up further in the coming months.”