Vacancies fall by half in City
JOB OPPORTUNITIES in financial services evaporated over the last year as economic worries took their toll, according to the Morgan McKinley London employment index.
Vacancies fell from 5,935 in January 2011 to 1,733 in December, before rising back to 2,835 on the traditional January hiring spree – a 52 per cent fall, year on year.
The New Year brought an 18 per cent jump in the number of jobseekers, and part-time vacancies increased.
“We are definitely seeing the impact of economic uncertainty reflected in rising levels of hiring activity for temporary and contract roles in financial services,” said Morgan McKinley’s Andrew Evans.
“It is encouraging to see short term roles being released which suggests a need for skilled professionals, however it also points to a real ‘wait and see’ approach to hiring permanent employees.”
The study also reported the length of time taken to fill each vacancy rose to 91 days, a 30-day jump from December and 26 days longer than in January 2011.
Meanwhile a survey from Ipsos Mori showed half of Britons are willing to move to another city for a better paying job, but only 26 per cent are prepared to move abroad.