Investment banking IT staff have no desire to switch jobs

Frenzied recruitment in the first half of 2010, combined with a reluctance to forgo accrued bonuses at this point in the year, has meant that IT professionals within investment banking have little interest in switching jobs currently.

While it's fairly standard for most people to sit tight at this point in the year, candidates are "not even vaguely interested" in looking to move despite ongoing demand from the banks, suggests Darrell Cameron-Webb, head of investment banking at the JM Group.

"Most candidates that were sitting tight waiting for the economic environment to improve before making their next career move, have moved," he says. "Given that the recruitment cycle for permanent staff tends to be 2 to 3 years this further constricts supply as they have made their move into their new roles and are not even vaguely interested in looking to move again."

Recruitment activity within banks' IT divisions is continuing, albeit at a much slower pace than earlier this year, but there's still a reluctance to buy out bonuses to get the right people onboard, suggests Paul Elworthy, director, IT banking and finance at recruiters Hudson.

"Because there was so much hiring in the first half of this year, much of the budgetary target has already been reached," he says. "Therefore, banks are largely unwilling to buy-out accrued bonuses and candidates are unwilling to give them up."

So, where are banks searching to fill the current vacancies? One of the obvious places would be the contractor market, which is currently experiencing something of a slump as big UK banks cut back.

Instead, though, investment banks are increasingly looking to techies outside of the financial sector.

"Clients are increasingly flexible about financial sector experience at this point in the year," suggests Elworthy. "Candidates outside of banking don't have the same golden handcuffs, and as long as the role isn't business facing and they're a strong technologist, firms want to hear from them."

This should, of course, be slightly reassuring news for techies working in the public sector.