London's Financial Services and Bank Job Vacancies Surge 20% in One Month

The number of available jobs in London's financial services sector surged by 20% on the month, in May, even though banks continue to cut costs and shore up balance sheets.

According to Morgan McKinley's London Employment Monitor for May 2013, the number of available permanent and temporary jobs coming onto the City hiring market rose to 6,426, up from 5,355 in April.

"An increase of 20% in new job availability is certainly a good sign, indicating cautious confidence from hiring managers across the City in growth potential for their business areas," said Hakan Enver, Operations Director, Morgan McKinley Financial Services.

"Much of this is on the temporary and contract side of the recruitment market, which was also the case twelve months previously."

Compared to 15,498 available jobs in May 2012, new roles for permanent and temporary positions released by hiring managers dropped 59%.

The number of job seekers interested in new permanent or temporary job opportunities also rose by 7% month-on-month.

Compared to May last year, there were 15% fewer professionals in the hiring market.

The data shows that while it may seem that a 20% surge in available jobs may suggest huge job losses, it is a markedly better scenario for the employment market, than last year.

"The report on Jobs has noted a trend for increased hiring in recent months and our City hiring data is in line with this, underlining that as we approach the mid-year point, we have seen less volatility both in the financial markets and also in the wider global economy," said Enver.

"Although the market remains highly sensitive to macroeconomic issues, sentiment has slowly been improving since the start of the year.

"With many institutions now working more efficiently following major cost drives, and with them investing in areas they deem more profitable, the positive announcements made in Q1 has encouraged further hiring to support additional trading activity. This is on top of continued plans to bolster their change and governance related functions."

According to the report, the average salary for those securing new jobs last month, increased once again by 8%.

"The start of the first quarter is always a time when employers are on the lookout for talent and they have new recruitment budgets with which to secure the best people," said Enver.

"With the increased confidence in the market from April 2013 to May 2013 and with more job seekers becoming available, it's likely that hiring managers now feel less pressure to offer very substantial remuneration packages to attract individuals.

"The 8% average change in salary for May 13 was slightly distorted by a number of candidates being placed into positions having recent redundancies. There was a noticeable trend of new employers matching the last salary or even offering less than what the candidate was earning previously, thus pushing down the average rate. However, we do not expect this trend to continue moving forward."

In March, the Office of National Statistics revealed that the capital has weathered much of the financial crisis and the robust economy continues to generate tens of thousands of jobs.

The number of Londoners without a job fell by 17,000 to reach 365,000 in the three months to January.

Unemployment has not been so low since early 2009.