City salary jump
Workers who found new jobs in London's financial services sector last year secured an average pay rise of 18%, reports Reuters' Matt Scuffham.
The pay rise reported by recruitment consultancy
Morgan McKinley "far outstrips pay growth for British workers in general, which has only recently shown signs of picking up after lagging inflation for most of the period since the 2008 global financial crisis," he writes.
18%
The average salary rise secured by London's financial services workers in 2014
In December, the sector saw the creation of 4,620 jobs - a 13% increase on the same period in 2013, but down 37% on the previous month. "December is traditionally a quiet month for recruitment," notes Scuffham.
Hakan Enver, Morgan McKinley's Operations Director, expects demand for financial services staff to grow in 2015, as businesses strive to ensure compliance with industry legislation. "Regulatory demands and enhanced reporting needs are pushing compliance to the top of hiring agendas in the City," he says.
Reuters article
Increasing intake
The good news for financial services workers isn't limited to the City, writes
Financial Times correspondent Sarah O'Connor. In a sign of growing confidence in the economy, it seems Britain's top employers are looking to broaden their graduate intake.
"Graduate vacancies at the UK's biggest companies will rise 8.1% this year to the highest level in at least ten years, according to an
annual study of 100 leading employers by High Fliers Research," O'Connor reveals. Finance, accountancy and professional services are among the sectors planning the biggest increase.
She also points out that graduate recruitment is a helpful indicator of corporate confidence in Britain's economy. Graduate vacancies fell by almost a quarter during the economic downturn, but this year vacancies are expected to exceed their pre-crisis peak. The recovery suggests young people's fortunes are finally on the up, after they suffered "a steeper fall in living standards than any other group after the crash".
Financial Times story (signup required)
Tapping homegrown talent
A similar trend can be seen in India, where financial services graduates are in such high demand that the sector's major players have "set the ball rolling on big-ticket hiring", notes
Economic Times reporter Sabarinath M.
Though hiring ground to a halt during the economic downturn, financial services companies are now back on track, he writes. At leading financial services company Centrum Group, for instance, headcount has increased by almost a fifth.
The country's economic recovery is doing so well that Indian companies are now tapping the homegrown talent potential in overseas markets. "Indians working in European banks, which are battling severe recession, are taking up plum assignments in homegrown institutions," Sabarinath explains.
He elaborates with a quote from the Head of HR at Centrum, Anjana Kumar: "The 'homecoming trend' seen in the last few years, partly because of the financial sector slowdown, will continue despite the strong economic recovery as people still feel that an exposure to the Indian market adds a lot of value to their career."
Economic Times piece
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