Survey shows City jobs hit
EMPLOYERS are demanding fewer workers in financial services, according to figures out today, and average salaries are falling.
Prospects for job hunters are severely limited in the sector, with vacancies down by over 10 per cent on August 2010 and down by around 30 per cent on February of this year, says Reed’s job index.
Those looking for jobs in banking are even worse hit. There are over 20 per cent fewer employment opportunities available in banks than were available 12 months ago, with mass layoffs announced at banks like Credit Suisse and HSBC in recent months.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the political situation, government sector vacancies have fallen the most. For much of the past year, in fact, there have been 50 per cent fewer state sector job opportunities advertised compared to late 2009 when Reed’s index was launched.
Other sectors are not suffering as badly, with higher levels of demand in areas like engineering, marketing and PR, and transport and logistics.
Overall, job opportunities in London have held up through 2011. Salaries, though, are falling.
Pay levels on offer in London fell two per cent from July to August, taking them below the levels offered when the Reed salary index began measuring pay and job opportunities almost two years ago. London’s situation is very similar to the picture nationally.
Salaries in the social care sector have fallen most in the past two years and are now 28 per cent lower than in December 2009. Basic pay in banking – in large part thanks to restrictions on bonuses – has risen the most, with salaries increasing by 17 per cent over the past two years.