2009 ended on a high for Financial Services candidates with figures showing a 2% increase in job offers from the previous month. However many will face challenging times in 2010 as competition for places continues to be high and drive down contractor rates and salaries.
Latest figures from December provided by financial services pre-employment screening firm Powerchex revealed a 2% increase in job offers from the previous month, raising hopes of a lasting economic recovery.
A number of areas, including Investment banks, hedge funds and stockbrokerage firms, showed marked increases in recruitment from previous months, with investment banks proving the front runners in the effort to acquire and develop new talent by increasing their offers to candidates by 15%. However, Investment managers did not contribute to the increases as job offers to the sector decreased by 15%.
A number of job gains were also recorded in the IT contractor market, signalling the re-starting of IT projects that had fallen by the wayside as a result of cost cutting measures due to the recession. However, the daily rates available to contractors have been slashed due to the increased volume of job applicants and the limited number of positions available.
In spite of this recent good news to end the year, 2010 could prove challenging with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation forecasting that UK unemployment will increase to a rate of 9.3% in 2010 and to 9.5% the year after.