Recruiting now
In a week that saw some sober reporting on unemployment figures from the Office of National Statistics, there were once again some causes for optimism in the labour market, not least within financial recruitment.
The ONS's latest Labour Market Statistics Bulletin reported that "The employment rate and the number of people in employment have fallen." Furthermore, "the number of vacancies has fallen." Unemployment now stands at 2.47 million, an increase of 210,000 on the previous three months and 743,000 on the year.
Despite talk of cuts from politicians of all parties, public sector employment appears to be showing no signs of collapse: "The number of people employed in the public sector was 6.04 million in June 2009, up 13,000 on the quarter." Unsurprisingly, the private sector is not so healthy: "The number of people employed in the private sector was 22.85 million, down 230,000 on the quarter."
Financial recruitment agencies, particularly those working in the banking sector, may have been pleased to read a survey from Crown Business Communications which reported that graduates are not primarily motivated by money when it comes to considering a career in banking. Graduates appear to be more motivated by the reputation of the company and also prospects for training and career progression. In fact, 70% of those questioned were only deterred from working in the banking sector "a little or not at all" by the industries recent travails.
Financial and legal recruitment specialist GRS issued a promising report earlier this week, stating that professionals working in the City (surveyed during July and August) feel more secure and confident in their roles than in the preceding two months. GRS itself has seen a slow improvement in the city jobs market for several months, whilst Kinsey Allen Consulting (recently merged with GRS) has seen increased demand for front office roles, itself driving confidence in the back office. Ken Brotherston, CEO of Kinsey Allen and GRS, commented that "City workers feel that the worst is behind us."
Morgan McKinley's London Employment Monitor for August 2009 reported an 18% monthly increase of the number of new financial services vacancies in August which represented the largest number of new vacancies in any month to date in 2009. A note of caution was sounded, however, with the reminder that there were 39% fewer jobs than the same month in 2008. Candidate acquisition followed the seasonal trend, with new registrants down by 19% on the previous month. Those lucky enough to secure a new role took are making decisions quicker: candidates took 3.5 days less to decide to accept an offer than in 2008. Morgan McKinley also reported that city salaries remain static, albeit with a minimal increase of 0.3% on 2008.
Financial recruitment received a further boost this week when some of its top employers featured prominently in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers. PwC came in at the top, followed by Deloitte (2), KPMG (5), Accenture (7) and Ernst and Young (10). No doubt this list will be keenly studied by those graduates surveyed by Crown Business Communications!