More City of London jobs than applicants, says recruiter

The number of job vacancies in the City of London is almost double the amount of people seeking employment there, according to recruiter, Robert Walters.

Robert Walters claims that London’s financial district has more jobs available than candidates to fill the positions. The recruiter noted that the shortage of jobseekers could prevent finance firms from achieving their full growth potential unless more workers are encouraged to change jobs.

However, this may not be too problematic; a recent report found that the number of workers in the City hit a record high in December 2014. This is a sign that the UK’s economic recovery is continuing, with improved conditions for both employers and employees.

“Only recently have we started to see the impact of the economic recovery feeding through to candidate confidence, which is great news for talent-seeking City organisations as they set their sights on business growth,” said Chris Hickey, Chief Executive of Robert Walters, in a City AM article.

“Candidates have been reticent about moving jobs in the last few years, fearing the ‘last in, first out’ culture that previously dominated in the City. However, we expect the market to open up more throughout the year, particularly once bonus season has run its course.”

Data from Robert Walters shows 10,560 vacancies on its books, with only 6,090 candidates to fill these positions. Vacancies are becoming more diverse, too, with job openings in a wider variety of different fields. In previous years the largest demand for staff came from the compliance and legal fields. Companies are now searching for candidates to fill positions in corporate finance and capital markets, as well as throughout the front office.

However, compliance staff continue to be a sought after commodity, as Robert Walters highlights it has 1,100 vacancies and only 405 candidates in the compliance sector. With a ratio of 2.5 jobs per jobseeker, this means candidates are still in high demand.

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