Morgan McKinley’s latest recruitment monitor for Q1 2022 shows that recruitment numbers in the financial services industry are rising following pandemic lows and global political and economic concerns. 

According to the report, there were 11 008 jobs available in the first quarter of 2022, over 73% more than the same period in 2021. There was also an increase of 35% quarter-on-quarter from Q4 2021 to Q1 2022.

The continued increase in available jobs clearly shows that business intends to grow, even with global instability.

Another key finding was that 51% more people actively sought new job opportunities in Q1 2022. There was also an average salary change of 22% when changing jobs. This number is significant, indicating a shortage of candidates in the city’s financial services market.

The data shows that businesses are bidding with higher salaries to attract the best talent, as the numbers of job seekers have not proportionally increased in line with the volume of new jobs available. Companies are also taking steps to retain existing staff, often by offering larger bonus payouts.

Hakan Enver, Managing Director at Morgan McKinley, commented:  “Once again, the city’s recruitment has shown stubborn resilience in the face of adversity. The first three months of this year saw companies hiring in their droves and professionals with renewed confidence to move. It’s safe to say that firms have been desperate to hire.”

“This growth is even more momentous when considering the various global issues that have come to the fore. The start of 2022 has been a tale of two opposites for London. On one hand, the Omicron variant, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent energy crisis, 30 year high inflation and rising interest rates have been the talk of the tabloids.”

Despite all the year-on-year increases, the month-on-month growth for 2022 is significantly slower – with a 2% increase comparing March to February and 12% when comparing February against January. The escalating global issues may still impact the London bubble and recruitment numbers for the remainder of the year.

Enver went on to add, “Despite not many knock-on effects being seen in London’s Financial Services hiring thus far, the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the global economical fallout could yet play a huge role in our market. Further escalations and sanctions would see more companies removing themselves from interactions with Russia, and who knows what might happen here as a result. It will be interesting to see what the figures of jobs and job seekers over the next three months pan out to be.”