Bank job cuts pace slows

Penna Meridian said the numbers of laid-off staff on its books fell by a third in the first two quarters of this year against the same period last year. Linda Jackson, managing consultant at Penna, said: "We don't think we're losing market share to rivals. We believe the total number of redundancies is going down."

She estimated the outplacement market in the City was worth 25m (€35m) last year. "It could now be heading for 18m or even 15m."

The same banks were making lay-offs but were doing it in smaller numbers. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was one area where redundancies had fallen. Two other outplacement firms, BG Careers and DBM, agreed there was a trend towards lower lay-offs across the City. Its scale was hard to judge as it was not reflected in their own figures.

A survey of investment bank executives by recruitment firm TMP/Hudson Highland Global Resources last month also found lay-offs are likely to decrease. One outplacement consultant was sceptical. "Banks have sacked most of their M&A staff already, so of course lay-offs are down. It doesn't mean hiring will increase yet."