Back office openings double year on year

If you work in the back or middle office, now may be a good time to find a new job. A study suggests there are currently twice as many vacancies as last year.

According to Morgan McKinley, the middle and back office recruitment firm, outstanding job vacancies in the City of London rose 22% between January and February, to 11,277. In February 2004 vacancies stood at 5,009.

Figures are derived from jobs on Morgan McKinley's database and conversations with 241 banking employees. They cover all jobs in the middle and back office, including risk management, control and finance, compliance and clearing and settlements.

Richie Holliday, associate director of Morgan McKinley, says growth in the middle and back office is being driven by banks' expansion of structured product businesses. 'One of the major growth areas is financial controllers and settlements staff to work with interest rate and credit derivatives', says Holliday. 'As banks move into more complex and exotic product areas, they need the support staff to back this up.'

Holliday says also banks are also hiring again for cash settlements positions, however. 'Cash equities have seen a burst of activity', he says. 'It's been quiet for the last couple of years, but some organisations are now realising they're thinly staffed here.'

A separate study of the risk management market by Sheffield Haworth, a financial services search firm, predicts hiring credit for risk positions is likely to slow in 2005 after most banks staffed up in 2004. However, it forecasts stronger growth for risk professionals working with high yield bonds, collateralised debt obligations, and hedge funds.

Adrian Marples director of the risk division at Sheffield Haworth, says people with experience in these areas are in short supply and can expect to earn more than their counterparts. On average, he says risk bonuses rose between 5% and 20% in 2004.