Bye-bye London, hello Belfast, Dublin and Glasgow
Because it's traditionally been where the jobs (and the money) are, technologists working within investment banks have obviously gravitated towards the City. But, with more development work being 'nearshored', is there an argument for moving to a more provincial location?
Examples of relatively highly-skilled development work being carried out beyond the confines of the square mile are numerous.
J.P. Morgan (currently) has its European Technology Centre in Glasgow, where Barclays Wealth, Morgan Stanley and National Australia Group also carry out development work. Citigroup has research and development functions in both Belfast and Ireland.
The motivation for moving to these locations is primarily cost-driven - with firms able to get access to both cheaper labour and office space. Nonetheless, firms are keen to attract tech talent from the City if they possibly can, suggest recruiters.
"The biggest hurdles are firstly that you cannot earn as much here as in the City, even though the cost of living is cheaper, and secondly that there's not yet the calibre of investment banking roles you will find in London," suggests Nick Price, managing director of Scottish IT-focused recruiters Bright Purple.
Salaries at JPMorgan's tech centre hover between 35-50k, according to reports, which is significantly lower than investment banking IT roles in the City. The main reason people move to Glasgow is for lifestyle choices though, suggests Price.
Belfast and Dublin are also home to a host of financial technology vendors, who are keen to court techies from the City.
Fearghal McGovern, business development manager at First Derivatives - a Belfast, Newry and Dublin-based capital markets tech house - suggests it's always been relatively easy to attract IT professionals for technical roles, but project management and business analyst positions remain challenging to recruit for. The firm has added 142 jobs over the last year.
"Over the last year, as banks have cut back their teams, it was significantly easier to attract tech talent to Belfast," he says. "But that window has shut as the candidate market has tightened over the last six months. It was possible to pick up people for 50-60k, but now they're demanding higher salaries because investment banks are recruiting again."
But working moving to a relatively senior role in Scotland or Ireland could enhance your City career prospects in the long term, suggests Paul Bennie, director of IT in finance focused headhunters Bennie MacLean.
"In my experience, senior financial technologists don't just leave London because they've been forced out, many recent moves have been for genuine career enhancing opportunities. Often they have the chance to lead a bigger team or take on a wider role in another asset class" he says. "You could be leading a small team here, but there's often a chance to build a division from scratch in these nearshore centres, which offers a different leadership challenge."
