Brexit brushed off by up beat UK jobs market
The number of UK jobs available climbed in June, despite fears surrounding the last months vote to quit the European Union.
The market shrugged off the Brexit vote adding 9,060 jobs, an increase of 18 per cent from May.
However the number of jobs going is down by 30 per cent compared to June last year, while the number of job seekers is up by 28 per cent over the same period.
“Considering, we entered the month with a degree of uncertainty, it was a surprise to see so many jobs released,” said Hakan Enver, operations director at Morgan McKinley. “A good portion of the jobs available came in during the last week of June, indicating that financial institutions held off on hiring until the referendum results were out.”
Since the referendum was first announced last year, there have been mounting concerns about City jobs moving to mainland Europe.
“So far, talk of an exodus has been just that: talk,” Enver added. “London remains an incredibly attractive city for investors and the UK will obviously remain a strong trading partner with EU, so people expect London to remain the leading finance centre of the world.”
London’s international banks warned repeatedly in the run-up to the EU membership referendum over the impact of a Brexit vote on the UK financial sector jobs market.
They are now waiting to see if the UK will lose the so-called passporting freedoms that allow them to offer services across the EU market with a UK licence.
Andrea Orcel, president of UBS investment bank, warned this week the Swiss bank is considering moving staff out of the UK. UBS currently employs 5,000 people in London.