Candidate to bank: If the job's in Melbourne, move it to Sydney - that's where I live

Last week we outlined the opinions of delegates on the eFinancialCareers Melbourne roundtable regarding the general state of the employment market in their city. Today we present some more hot topics which were discussed by the 13-strong panel of senior in-house HR professionals from foreign and local financial services institutions.

Destination anyway

Firms are increasingly creating what one roundtable delegate referred to as "location agnostic positions" in Australia. "If the candidate wants the job to be in Melbourne rather than Sydney, we will base it there if we can."

"Mobile roles" are also on the rise. "For example, we have positions where you work in Australia and then move to Hong Kong after 12 months. So banks need candidates to travel, not just the other way round," commented one attendee.

It's not the salary, stupid

Several delegates said since the GFC they have noticed an increase in candidates requesting flexible working hours or homeworking as part of their employment contracts. "There's been a great uptake in flexibility, and it's not female-driven either," remarked one panelist.

Another added: "People were overworked during the financial crisis because their teams were cut and it's an overworked industry anyway, so candidates see the benefits in negotiating some degree of flexibility, at least as to when they start and finish the day."

Entry-level candidates in Melbourne are also placing renewed importance on career development opportunities when they choose which employer to work for because 2009 was a "lost year" for training and development.

These Generation Y workers have bounced back quickly from the GFC. "They are still confident enough to resign just to go travelling for two months."

One delegate stressed the value of mentoring for younger employees. "I've seen people leaving firms not knowing that a similar opportunity is available at their current employer. Mentoring can help deal with this kind of retention issue."

Agency angst

Large financial services firms in Melbourne have increased their use of direct sourcing in the last 18 months, with many only using recruitment agencies for about 20 per cent of jobs.

Most attendees agreed that they use recruiters if the role is urgent or specialist, or if vacancy volumes are too vast. "There's been a shift from generalist to more niche recruiters. If it's purely transactional, we can do it ourselves."

One roundtable delegate had some choice words for recruiters: "Some have shocking levels of service and have come out of the GFC worse than ever. In high demand, talent-short functions like risk, they are sending us CVs of people we have already seen."

She added: "Many people have left agencies over the last 18 months, so relationships have been shattered. When consultants leave, all their IP goes with them and our contract with the firm is essentially worthless."