Hiring party about to fizzle out?
Finance professionals looking for a new job had better move fast. The buoyant market conditions which have led to record hiring since 2002 could soon come to an end.
The latest report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) suggests job growth in London's finance and professional services sectors is set to slow and that the number of jobs on offer in the City will remain relatively static between 2006 and 2009.
Slowing growth follows a bumper year in 2006, in which employment in finance and professional services is estimated to have leapt by 12,500 to a record of 335,700.
"The City has expanded its labour force rapidly in recent years and currently we are at record employment levels, above the dotcom peak," Dominic Walley, managing editor of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, told the Financial Times."But it does now seem like financial institutions are becoming more cautious in their outlook."
Jonathan Said, economist and co-author of the report told the paper: "A US led pause in the world economy in coming years is likely to make firms wary of recruiting heavily and total jobs numbers should fall back slightly in most sectors."
New jobs are expected in the professional services sector, which the CEBR says should benefit from the growing burden of regulation on financial services firms.
