Jobs crisis as City hiring falls to record low
CITY job vacancies plunged to new lows last year as incoming regulations took their toll on financial services firms, making 2012 a worse year for job seekers than even the height of the credit crunch, recruiters Astbury Marsden revealed today.
Just 35,115 new jobs were advertised last year, down 35 per cent on the 54,025 in 2011.
That compares with roughly 150,000 in 2007, and approximately 90,000 in 2008.
Only 800 new City jobs were available in December 2012, compared with 1,490 in the same month of 2011, Astbury Marden’s figures show.
“Tighter regulation including higher capital requirements forced up costs at a time when revenues dipped due to a number of factors including a continued weak economy and less trading activity,” said recruitment boss Mark Cameron.
“Although broad cost cutting is fairly typical in the City during a downturn, 2012 was particularly significant as senior management in banks took very decisive action and implemented major structural changes including winding down entire units.”
Banks have led City job cuts in recent months.
Swiss giant UBS is cutting 10,000 jobs by 2015, including roughly 3,000 in London, winding down large parts of its fixed income business.
Deutsche Bank is chopping 2,000 positions, Bank of America Merrill Lynch plans to cut 16,000 jobs, Nomura is slimming its investment banking headcount by around one-third, and Barclays is believed to be considering losing 2,000 staff.