Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor registered a negligible decrease in job availability of 3.5 percent from 7,056 vacancies in July 13 to 6,804, a very slight drop on last month’s figures. Professionals looking for new positions numbered 5,816 in August 13 from 7,752 in July 13 – a 25 percent decrease. In comparison, the year on year figure for those actively seeking new career opportunities shows an increase of 35 percent.

Hakan Enver, Operations Director, Morgan McKinley Financial Services commented: “As we anticipated last month, the slight fall in August is not unexpected given the holiday season and we are experiencing all the signs of a bounce back of activity in September. All the macroeconomic signs are pointing to this. The OECD has raised its UK growth forecast and last week’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) revealed that the UK’s services industry grew at the fastest rate since 2006. There was also good news from the manufacturing and construction sectors and I am cautiously optimistic that this increased confidence will feed through into hiring figures during the final quarter of the year. As financial institutions gear up for growth, we expect to see increased hiring activity in a number of key areas. Compliance is obviously still very high on the agenda particularly within the anti-money laundering and financial crime arenas, and there is also a marked increase in requirements for audit specialists in the market risk and quant space. Operational and financial change is also a key area and we expect to see a surge in demand for contractors in this space as we get closer to regulatory deadlines.

“While the number of financial services professionals seeking new opportunities has decreased by 25 percent compared to last month, this can largely be attributed to seasonal factors. However the year-on year increase of 35 percent is indicative of an overall confidence from job seekers. I expect this to continue as we are already seeing increasing numbers of candidates beginning to explore their next career opportunity The average salary for those securing new jobs in August 13 rose again by 20 percent compared to a 17 percent increase the previous month. Hakan Enver continued: “With the available bonus pool having reduced in recent years, we are seeing banks restructuring remuneration packages in order to ensure that they remain competitive when seeking to attract top talent. This has consequently led to some marked increases in base salaries.”