Recruitment in financial services sector buoyant despite planned mass layoffs
“It remains to be seen what impact this will have on hiring levels within the financial services arena this quarter”, said APSCo, regarding the expected mass layoffs within the financial services sector in England & Wales.
The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), the trade association for the recruitment sector, has released a research report focused on professional recruitment within the financial services arena in England & Wales.
According to the document, the financial jobs market in England & Wales ended last year on a high, with over 100,000 jobs advertised across the different Banking related sectors, and IT professionals were in most demand.
“Cutting headcount too fast and too deep can have a detrimental impact on recruitment”
Ann Swain, Chief Executive Officer of APSCo commented: “Our latest data shows that hiring within the financial services sector was buoyant last year – and IT professionals dominated the recruitment landscape. However, with reports of banks planning layoffs to cut budgets, it remains to be seen what impact this will have on recruitment levels for the first quarter of 2023.
“With IT skills the most sought after in the sector, it is possible that hiring will remain somewhat buoyant despite layoffs as the need for tech experts is less likely to drop off on a significant scale in the sector. It will also be interesting to monitor how the staffing challenges of the financial services sector evolves in the coming year. As we’ve seen in previous downturns, cutting headcount too fast and too deep can have a detrimental impact on recruitment once the economy recovers.”
Huge investments in technology and digitalization are driving such high demand for tech professionals despite the widely publicized reports of mass layoffs planned in the banking remit.
“It remains to be seen what impact this will have on hiring levels within the financial services arena this quarter”, said APSCo, regarding the expected mass layoffs within the financial services sector in England & Wales.
Barclays was top recruiter: 5,700+ vacancies
According to data gathered by APSCo and provided by business intelligence specialist Vacancysoft, IT professionals were the most sought after, with 33,542 jobs in 2022, up 15.8% year-on-year. The Banking profession ranked second, closing 2022 with 27,000 new roles constituting a 32.7% increase on 2021 levels.
Out of the top firms operating within the financial services arena, Barclays topped the table last year, posting over 5,700 vacancies, a year-on-year rise of 147.8%.
JPMorgan Chase was the next best performer, with more than 4,600 jobs – representing a 14.3% rise on 2021 figures.
