Despite a concerning start to 2016 for the financial sector, thanks to falling share prices in Asia and Australia, job opportunities in London’s financial district are expected to rise. This implies that the stock market might be set to recover, if bosses are predicting that they will need more staff in the near future. This article will focus on examining what news on these fresh jobs means for the City and the economy. For more information on a range of subjects within financial recruitment, Procorre’s About.me page will prove invaluable in the coming months for anybody looking to get essential industry news.
Fears for Global Economy
2016 has gotten off to a lacklustre start for many of the world’s biggest markets. Problems in China saw local stock markets fall rapidly, producing a knock on effect in Australia and ripples from the lack of confidence in Asian markets reached as far as Europe and the US. In fact, London took the biggest hit in February as the FTSE 100 Index fell by 135 points – the last time the index dropped by that much was just after the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2009.
Concern for European economies, if not the world’s finances was further compounded by a statement released by the International Monetary Fund. The organisation feared that if the markets continued in the current downtrend then this could have a serious impact on economic growth. Low share values in banks have historically been good indicators that an economy is stagnating. However, the markets seem to have taken a turn for the better, European exchanges finished up in the first couple of days in March and even the price of oil has rallied slightly.
Good News for Jobs in Finances Sector
Even before the European rallies in March, Robert Half, specialist finances sector recruiter revealed research which highlighted the potential for economic growth in London based on the fact that 63% of financial executives in the capital expected to add new members to their teams in the first half of 2016. While this does not guarantee a return to last year’s stock market highs, it is certainly indicative that confidence is returning in the wake of tumbling stock values in January.
This trend for new vacancies, and for a greater number of financial professionals looking for jobs is expected to continue throughout the year, according to a statement from Morgan McKinley’s operations director. January also saw the release of promising salary figures for financial consultants in London over the course of 2016, once again pointing to a healthy industry despite its shaky start at the beginning of the year.
Attracting the Right People
As part of the same survey of financial executives conducted by Robert Half, almost all of those interviewed were concerned about two things. The first, is the quality of the candidates that will apply for the newly opened vacancies of this year, and the second is that executives are concerned that their top performers might leave for new opportunities.
Most directors will spend at least some of their time worrying about their top performers, retaining accomplished employees is a key strategy in any business. However, with high salaries being posted by industry leaders, incentives and bonuses will only go so far. In the likely event that these employees move on to a better paid job, it makes sense that executives are also apprehensive about whether new recruits will be up to the task of replacing them.
Advice from top recruitment companies and consultants suggest that the best way forward is to act quickly if a firm spots a suitable replacement or exceptional candidate to fill a new vacancy. Remaining competitive is also an age-old proven strategy, but with companies like Emolument now publishing the latest salary and bonus details of the bigger firms in London, companies can see exactly where they stand compared to rival businesses.
Maintaining the Momentum
A pertinent point that arises out of recruitment figures from 2015 is that last year saw a similar rise in jobseekers in the first six months, whereas towards the end, recruitment fell once again. The cause of this was both in part to a stock market that was starting to slow down, in addition to fewer jobseekers being on the market as bonus season approached.
For continued growth in 2016, especially towards the end of the year, businesses are urged by recruiters to not just remain competitive in their approach to hiring new employees from the UK but also to try and attract financial consultants from overseas. The UK financial sector is approaching full employment but there are still many consultants who are trying to break into one of the biggest financial markets in the world.
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