City keen to recruit from Ireland
City banks are now turning to Ireland in a bid to fill vacant roles, according to recruiter Hays. The group said London’s banks have started to recruit Irish accountants because of skills shortages in the sector. Top City accountants are exacerbating the shortage due to their reluctance to move roles, according to Hays. “This isn’t about there being a lack of skills in London, but rather this is because there a dearth of the top tier of talent willing to move, which has created a shortage of good candidates,” said James Lloyd-Townshend, director at Hays Financial Markets. The recruiter said it is using video conferencing to pre-screen candidates for the roles as requests from London’s banks continue to rise. Lloyd-Townshend said: “By utilising the Irish workforce as well as the skilled available workers in the UK we can do our best to ensure the banks have access to the right talent as and when they need it.”