GUEST COMMENT: Junior hiring is finally coming back

If you're a junior to middle level financial services professional you'll be glad to hear that employers are starting to hire again at this level.

Granted, recruitment levels within London's financial services jobs market are still a long way from what they were a year or two ago but in the last couple of months there has been an improvement in both employers' appetite and commitment to hire - particularly at the junior to mid level.

Throughout the first half of 2009 our monthly Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor has shown signs that the City jobs market is stabilising, with muted increases occurring in five out of the first six months of this year. Banks which had frozen much of their recruitment over the past 12 months are now starting to hire again and there is a real appetite to fill these roles.

The good news is that employers' increased commitment to hire has reduced the time it is taking for individuals to secure their next role; down from an average of 81 days in January 09 to 55 days in June 09.

There are several reasons for this improved sentiment and slight increase in demand.

Towards the end of 2008 and during the beginning of 2009, a number of employers were still making key hires within the City but for the most part, hiring was focused on securing strategic, senior level professionals, more specifically of board and managing director level.

Now, demand has filtered down to the middle and junior level roles as firms focus on building strong teams around these key hires. Employers are looking for financial services professionals, predominantly at the analyst/clerk level upwards within the front, middle and back office across all areas of financial services including investment banking and funds management.

A number of cost-saving and efficiency initiatives implemented by financial institutions have now been completed, or are nearing completion, and this is helping to fuel demand. These projects have given employers more visibility with regards to where there are now skills gaps within their organisations and they are starting to recruit accordingly. City confidence levels have also increased somewhat as a result of some banks announcing strong quarterly financial results recently.

Nevertheless, it can't be stressed enough that while there is now some recruitment occurring within all areas and at all levels of London's financial services sector, job volumes are still heavily reduced compared to 12-18 months ago. Securing a new role remains extremely competitive and with what is traditionally the quietest period of the year for hiring now upon us, it may get even more competitive over the next month or so. Demand will be slow but hopefully, we'll start to see it pick up again in September/October.