Most City bankers who left jobs in the past year haven't resurfaced

It's become a cliché, but if you work in banking and are dissatisfied with the state of your bonus feel thankful that you have a job. An examination of the re-employment rates of people leaving nine major banks in London since January 2012 reveals that 72% of them have yet to resurface in comparable roles in the City.

The figures, derived from the the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) Register, show that between January 2012 and February 2013, 2,872 FSA approved people left the combined entities of BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse International, Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan Chase National Bank Association, Merrill Lynch International, Morgan Stanley International, Nomura International, Societe Generale and UBS (some of the names seem dated as this how each bank originally registered with the FSA).

Of these 2,872 leavers, only 807, or 28% have re-emerged in FSA approved roles elsewhere in the City.  Last time we looked, in October 2012, the rate of re-employment was 25%. Things have improved, but not much.

The rate at which people have found comparable new roles varies from firm to firm. People leaving US banks are most likely to find new roles. J.P. Morgan's investment bankers appear to be the most employable. Swiss and French banks' staff appear to be the least. The poor re-employment rate for bankers at UBS may be attributed to the fact that many have been let go since December 2012, giving them little time to find alternatives. It's equally conceivable that French bankers leaving BNP Paribas have returned to Paris and found new work there, rather than remaining in London.

More positively, some of the of bankers who haven't found comparable roles may have retired, or decided to leave banking and do something different entirely. Others, however, will be waiting in the wings - more than happy to take the role of anyone complaining about their zero bonus.

The re-employment league table for bankers 

Percentage of FSA approved staff leaving each bank between January 2012-February 2013 and moving into alternative FSA approved jobs in London

1. JPMorgan Chase= 36%

2. Morgan Stanley International= 31%

3. Goldman Sachs International= 30%

4. Merrill Lynch International= 29%

5. Societe Generale= 29%

6. Nomura International= 28%

7. Credit Suisse International= 24%

8. UBS AG= 24%

9. BNP Paribas= 23%