I recently attended a small but significant networking event hosted by Silu, an organisation aimed at professionals working or doing business in China invited a Morgan McKinley guest to speak at their panel event – alongside editors from The Banker and eFinancialCareers. Richie Holliday, COO Morgan McKinley Asia took up the opportunity to speak from his experience overseeing Morgan McKinley’s offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, as well as Singapore and Japan.

The event titled: ‘Asia calling: where is the future for financial services professionals’ is the first of many seminars from Silu as it aims to become a hub for professionals in Asia, particularly those focused individuals seeking to return to China (known as Haigui) for career enhancement.

Haigui (an informal term for Chinese people who have returned to mainland China after having studied or worked abroad) are in strong demand and sought after by multinational companies to bridge the cultural differences. Also a new generation of career driven individuals are in China looking to make a name for themselves, in a competitive career environment everyone is looking for the edge to give them the advantage and Silu offers an outlet to learn from successful individuals such as the two other guest speakers, Dr Mao and Dr Wang, both head of risk areas in leading financial services institutes

This signifies the impact that China will continue to have especially with cities like Shanghai progressing rapidly towards becoming a global financial centre. Richie presented key findings from Morgan McKinley’s China Hiring Market Report 2013. He also highlighted the changes happening in the market, for example, no longer can non-Chinese language speakers walk into a position even in financial hubs such as Hong Kong.

The event was very well attended and a great success for Silu, with Richie being almost mobbed at the end from those who wanted more information about the opportunities and possibilities of returning to China.

Now we are all in a globally competitive market, what skills do you think will be most important for you to succeed in the future?

career, China, Chinese language, Financial Services, financial services professionals, Hong Kong, Shanghai

According to the online finance dictionary Investopedia, the term broker refers to a ‘firm when it acts as an agent for a customer and charges the customer a commission for its services’.

In the job seeking process, that’s where recruitment consultants like me come in: we act as brokers between the companies and institutions who hire us to find talent and professionals looking for new roles.

As an experienced financial services professional with good knowledge of the market you may feel no need to engage with a recruiter.  I understand that, however let me explain the pros and cons of either working with a recruitment company or alternatively not doing so and waiting to be headhunted directly…

Will a direct recruiter be able to help me?

More and more banks are building up their own internal recruitment functions – referred to as ‘direct recruitment’.  For a bank, this seems like a great option; bypass recruiters and hire directly – saving money on the fee paid to a consultancy.  However the probability of a direct recruiter finding the very best person for the role immediately drops – by definition a bank or institution will never have access to the same wide pool of candidates that recruitment companies do.  They don’t invest in the right tools and technologies to do so as it’s simply not their business – it’s ours!

For a hiring manager this is not necessarily the best option especially at a time when each new hire is key.  For a professional looking to develop their career – it’s only one role with one bank, compared to the opportunity to discuss multiple roles across varying organisations by speaking to a recruitment consultancy…

So is it better to talk to a recruiter than to a bank?

We are paid to source and find the best professionals in the market, for the right roles.  Like it or not, that’s what we do, all day every day to help companies build strong teams.  This simply gives us the edge over any employer in being able to find talent.  We also talk to financial institutions daily about multiple roles, across various teams in their organisations: so once we find good people, we know exactly where they might fit.  Acting as the ‘broker’ means we know what hiring managers are looking for; we may have already helped them hire somebody or even placed them in their own jobs, so we have a unique insight.  We also spend hours talking to professionals to understand, not just their next job, but their entire career plan so we can help them find the best roles.

I am certainly not saying that as a professional you shouldn’t take a call directly from a financial services institution – instead I hope this post makes clear the difference between their role and our role. Do yourself a favour and keep your options open by talking to a recruiter.

If you have a view on this topic – I’m keen to hear from you. Please email me at henver@morganmckinley.co.uk or leave us a comment below.

debate, direct recruitment, Financial Services, financial services jobs, Morgan McKinley, recruitment company

The month of August 12 – typically a slower time in many industries including recruitment saw a surprising 5% uplift in financial services and banking jobs compared to the previous month.

We expected that the London 2012 Olympics would have some impact on employment and work, however we actually saw more jobs coming onto the hiring market in the early part of the month while the Games were in full swing.

This is actually the first time in three years that job availability has risen in the July – August timeframe, however putting this in context it’s important to note that the level of FS and banking jobs is still 34% below August last year.

With the UK Parliament now back from the summer recess, we are very interested to see how governments across the region will continue to handle eurozone issues which will inevitably have some impact on the immediate future of the financial services sector.

Read our August Employment Monitor in full for more insight into financial services hiring

banking jobs, Employment, eurozone, Financial Services, financial services sector, recruitment

The latest Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor was released this week – registering a surprise fall in job opportunities in the London financial services market from May 12 to June 12 – 33%.

After two consecutive months of increasing job opportunities from March to May, we’re actually not so surprised to see a fall – the road to economic recovery is expected to be very ‘up and down’ as Mervyn King forecast back in February. However, it’s the size of this drop that was not anticipated.

It’s hard to give specific reasons for this significant drop as we continue to operate in an unpredictable hiring market, however further economic commentators from REC/KPMG, Grant Thornton/ICAEW and the Organisation for Economic Development have all flagged that the UK and wider global economy is not exactly looking stable right now.

Eurozone issues continue as politicians within the PIIGS (Portugal , Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) continue their discussions on bailouts, a possible Greek exit, the future of the Euro and what they need to put in place to rejuvenate their economies.

At this half year point, we are well below the number of available jobs that were in the hiring market in June 11 – 53% less to be precise and as our rolling average graph will show you we are also some way below that figure. We look forward with interest to seeing how the first month of H2 pans out. Please look out for our July 12 London Employment Monitor at the start of August.

Download or view previous London Employment Monitor from the Morgan McKinley website

eurozone, Financial Services, Hiring, jobs, London Employment, London Employment monitor, Morgan McKinley London employment Monitor, REC

Morgan McKinley has just released its latest Employment Monitor together with the results of its yearly Bonus Satisfaction Survey.

Whilst city hiring is steadily on the increase with 17% more available jobs on the market since the last reported statistics from April 12, the Euro debt crisis coupled with the current state of the UK economy means that the total number of job seekers is still down 58% on last year’s figures.

So why has the number of job seekers dropped 58% since last year?

Well, there are several contributors but the main ones are:

• The number of available jobs is still down by 25 % year-on-year, so there is significantly fewer roles on the market for candidates to interview for.
• The poor economic background naturally leads to a lesser inclination for professionals to start looking for new jobs; also the high numbers of job seekers in May 11 was prior to the London FS market redundancies. This suggests that there was more confidence in the market in May 11 compared to now (May 12) where the uncertainty could deter professionals from leaving their current roles.
• The bonus satisfaction survey released also lends support to the lack of job seekers to an extent. Of those surveyed the satisfaction toward remuneration is leveling out with 42% saying they were satisfied with their bonus. In the past, a high level of dissatisfaction with compensation could have correlated with an increase in job seeking numbers around May-June following the bonus payout.

To view the full results of Bonus Satisfaction Survey and the May London Employment Monitor please the main website.

Also don’t forget to watch the video below where Andy Evans comments on this month’s results.

city jobs, Financial Services, Financial services hiring, London Employment monitor, Morgan McKinley London employment Monitor

Interesting to see this morning’s copy of CityAM, which featured an article on ‘passive job seeking’ – ‘Let others take the burden as a passive career hunter’. As well as including some of Morgan McKinley’s own data on the number of available vacancies in London’s financial services sector in April 12 and the number of people looking for roles, it alsohighlights the importance of managing your long-term career progression.

The main premise of the article is that career planning information is available from a variety of sources and is worth a look even if you have no intention of going out looking for a new role.  If you are starting to wonder what else might be out there for you, try the following:

Develop your online profile

• If you don’t want to be bombarded by calls to your mobile from recruitment firms but do want to be contacted about specific opportunities it is worth developing your own web page / blog where people can make contact.  This also allows you to highlight your broader personality.
• Ensure that your LinkedIn profile is up to date with your key capabilities.

Manage the relevance of your own career

• Be conscious of the changes happening in your own chosen field and make the effort to network opportunities for yourself to retain a relevant career skill set.  Another way to do this is by collaborating on internal projects that give you exposure to new initiatives.

Network socially

• As distinct from just social networking.  Enjoy your time away from work by joining societies, clubs or associations that may attract people with a similar career mind set to yourself.  This is an effective way of staying abreast of changes in your specific industry as well as meeting influential people and being able to demonstrate a passion for your field.

It never hurts to be informed.  In an employment market that is as challenging and competitive as the current London financial services market, making yourself aware of job vacancy data, market intelligence and remuneration insight from a variety of sources that can provide information across the entire market is a smart move.
If you’re interested in an overview of the market – read our latest London Employment Monitor

If you’re interested in comparing your salary – read our 2012 Financial Services Salary Survey with video

If there is anything else you would like to discuss, please get in touch:

Steve Leeson, Operations Director Insurance & Technology 0207 092 0153

career, Financial Services, London salary survey, Morgan McKinley London employment Monitor

The global financial services market has seen continued instability, particularly across the eurozone which has created an extremely challenging operating environment.

Earlier this month we published our April London Employment Monitor which recorded the highest level of City jobs in six months. An area of hiring which is important to watch is IT services in banking.

Technology trends such as cloud computing, mobile application development and payment transactions are making technical hires in banks essential. Furthermore the gadget savvy traders and analysts in the larger banks have an increasing reliance on data access across all devices including mobile.

For the banking industry to continue to drive innovation and excellence the hire of talented IT professionals to drive the business forward is becoming more crucial than ever. IT professionals are recruited within various roles in the financial services industry and we have identified 7 Hot Skills Areas:

You can read more of my comment piece in today’s copy of CityAM.

Lloyd Wahed, Manager Morgan McKinley Technology

Banking, banking industry, Cityjobs, cloud computing, data mining, employment monitor, Financial Services, innovation, jobs, London, mobile application, payment transactions, technology talent

This seems to be a topic which is often covered in conversations within our office.

The compliance and regulatory markets have been growing at an alarming rate since the demise of Lehman Brothers and the start of the recession, and it seems whilst some other middle office functions have had steady growth, the compliance market has seen some astronomical growth, both within sell side and buy side organisations in London.

With the FSA introducing new policies and procedures on a regular basis, does this mean that the compliance markets are likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future?

Morgan McKinley has continued to see a demand for compliance ‘talent’ for the past three and a half years, especially within sales and trading compliance and Anti-Money Laundering (AML).

With the introduction of the new regulators in 2013, will this mean that the compliance market will continue to see growth above other markets? …I think so!

Banking, City of London, Compliance, Financial Services, FSA, regulation

Of course it’s positive to see our Employment Monitor registering an increase in job availability in January 12 after two months of declining hiring activity in the City.  However, it’s important to note that this is a very typical trend at this time of year with December being a shorter working month.  For the eight years that we have been recording job availability, January has always seen an increase in financial services hiring activity in London.

View full report

The number of jobs will also be boosted to some extent by roles that were signed-off but not released in December due to factors such as budgetary constraints. However, despite the fact that January shows a rebound, we have to put this into perspective; the total number of available roles in January 12 was just over half the number of January 11 which was in itself a relatively subdued month for hiring compared to previous years.  Despite the welcome monthly uplift, this 52% drop on the number of jobs in January 11 indicates we are still in a very cautious hiring market.

The rise in number of job seekers in the market in January 12 compared to December 11 again reflects the time of year. The ‘New Year, new job’ effect prevails to some extent every year regardless of economic conditions.  In addition, we are in the midst of bonus announcements, with expectations that many banks will be restricting the size of bonus pots to reduce costs and focus on other ways to attract talent.  Speculation and anticipation of unsatisfactory bonuses may have encouraged professionals to re-enter the jobs market in January 12.  However, as the distribution of bonus pots is unclear at this stage, it therefore also remains unclear whether bonus season will have the usual jobs merry-go-round effect.

The significantly increased time to fill roles reflects the environment in which organisations are currently operating; interview processes and headcount sign-off are quite clearly delayed for a number of reasons.  Firstly, finding the right person is absolutely paramount – each hire is crucial.  Secondly, negotiating and agreeing compensation and benefits packages is frequently taking longer with changes to the structure of remuneration within institutions and hiring managers facing cost pressures.  Thirdly, lack of visibility and confidence in the market means it can be genuinely difficult to determine the right person and the right time to hire.  The constantly changing landscape, particularly with respect to regulation also adds another layer of complexity.

We are definitely seeing the impact of this uncertainty reflected in the relatively active level of hiring activity for temporary and contract roles in financial services.  It’s encouraging to see these short term roles being released which suggests a need for skilled professionals, however it also points to a real ‘wait and see’ approach to hiring permanent employees.

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Click to view the London Financial Services Salary Survey 2012

We recently surveyed over 370 hiring managers and professionals working across financial services in London to hear their predictions for hiring and remuneration for 2012.

Survey highlights show that only 12% of those in the permanent market are feeling more confident about job availability compared to this time last year. On a more positive note, just over a third (35%) are optimistic that salaries will rise over the course of 2012 while 50% expect salaries to stay at their current levels.

The mixed findings of our survey clearly reflect the lack of visibility and turbulence in the hiring market as the new year begins. It is well known that financial markets thrive on stability. Therefore a conclusion to the eurozone crisis and clarity on regulatory issues such as the Vickers report should bring greater transparency and confidence to the banking system in the UK.

We hope you find this salary survey informative and welcome your feedback. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and wish you all the best for 2012.

Financial Services, London, salary guide 2012, salary survey 2012