Fear stokes search for jobs in City
CITY workers are staking out new job opportunities as the threat of redundancy lingers over the financial sector.
Despite fewer vacancies becoming available, the number of professionals entering the jobs market spiked in October, according to two separate surveys released this morning.
Morgan McKinley reported a nine per cent rise in the number of people seeking new employment opportunities in financial services.
“Whilst the increase may be enhanced by recent redundancies, it also reflects the uncertainty hanging over the hiring market,” said chief operations officer Andrew Evans. “The uncertainty is encouraging individuals to examine their options before the traditional slowdown in hiring that comes towards the end of the year.”
Fellow recruitment firm Astbury Marsden reported an eye-watering 48 per cent jump in the number of City workers looking for new jobs.
Bankers and fund managers are “beginning to window shop” for roles at rival companies, the report said. The result excludes any impact from the impending bankruptcy of MF Global.
Although Morgan McKinley found a very slight (0.4 per cent) rise in vacancies last month compared to September, both surveys showed a huge fall in available jobs compared to the same time last year.
In October 2010 nearly 5,000 new jobs were recorded by Morgan McKinley, down to 3,859 last month.