uly 10 has seen a healthy 7% increase in financial services job opportunities compared to the previous month.  This is the second highest level of hiring activity, not only this year, but since August 08, illustrating that the jobs market for professionals in financial services continues to follow a steady pace of recovery.  Over the last few months, our Employment Monitor has said that hiring will continue to be maintained in H2, although not necessarily at the same rate as the first half of the year.  Q1 10 was particularly strong as the market received a boost following signs of economic recovery. The increase in recruitment levels at the start of July is a good indication that institutions will continue to recruit, although we are expecting fluctuations in hiring levels over the remainder of the year.

“This outlook must be balanced with caution as recent events such as global sovereign debt; reduction in UK consumer confidence; austerity measures and more recently speculation of a double dip recession in the US, have all led to an increased lack of visibility. We are yet to see how these issues will affect the recruitment market in H2 10.

“We’ve seen fewer professionals looking for jobs in July 10 with a 16% decrease compared to the previous month.  This shows a correction from a particularly high level in recent months as individuals responded to increasing demand from banks and other institutions across the City in the first half of the year. It also reflects the start of the summer holiday season with individuals waiting until the summer period is over before considering a job move.”

Average salary levels for roles secured in the last few months have shown little variation, with fluctuations likely to be due to differences in the volume of hiring from the junior end of the jobs market to the senior end, month-on-month. Although some pockets of the financial services market have seen remuneration rise in line with increased demand, institutions have generally kept salaries fairly steady this year. Our March 10 Bonus Survey highlighted this when only 4.9% of respondents said their base salary had been increased to compensate for a reduction in bonuses and just over a third (37%) were earning higher salaries than the previous year compared to the majority (60%) who said their salary remained similar to the same time last year.”

This morning I was interviewed by Bloomberg TV discussing the findings of our latest London Employment Monitor. The Employment Monitor measures job opportunities, new candidate availability and salaries each month across the financial services sector in London. July 10 saw a 7% increase in new job opportunities, compared to June 10. This is the second highest level of hiring activity, not only this year, but since August 08, illustrating that the jobs market for professionals in financial services continues to follow a steady pace of recovery.

Over the last few months, our Employment Monitor has said that hiring will continue to be maintained in H2, although not necessarily at the same rate as the first half of the year. Q1 10 was particularly strong as the market received a boost following signs of economic recovery. The increase in recruitment levels at the start of July is a good indication that institutions will continue to recruit, although we are expecting fluctuations in hiring levels over the remainder of the year.

This outlook must be balanced with caution as recent events such as global sovereign debt; reduction in UK consumer confidence; austerity measures and more recently speculation of a double dip recession in the US, have all led to an increased lack of visibility. We are yet to see how these issues will affect the recruitment market in H2 10. We’ve seen fewer professionals looking for jobs in July 10 with a 16% decrease compared to the previous month.

This shows a correction from a particularly high level in recent months as individuals responded to increasing demand from banks and other institutions across the City in the first half of the year. It also reflects the start of the summer holiday season with individuals waiting until the summer period is over before considering a job move.

Average salary levels for roles secured in the last few months have shown little variation, with fluctuations likely to be due to differences in the volume of hiring from the junior end of the jobs market to the senior end, month-on-month. Although some pockets of the financial services market have seen remuneration rise in line with increased demand, institutions have generally kept salaries fairly steady this year.

Our March 10 Bonus Survey highlighted this when only 4.9% of respondents said their base salary had been increased to compensate for a reduction in bonuses and just over a third (37%) were earning higher salaries than the previous year compared to the majority (60%) who said their salary remained similar to the same time last year.