City banks launch record recruitment drive

The City banking jobs market is booming as lenders rush to reverse jobs cuts launched during the pandemic, reveals fresh figures published today.

The UK’s top banks are looking to hire nearly 3,000 new candidates, according to research by recruiter Morgan McKinley and Vacancysoft.

A shortage of skilled workers is intensifying competition between City banks to secure top talent.

Bankers are capitalising on the worker-led recruitment market by considering moving from their existing firm to secure a pay bump from their new employer.

“The recruitment market is candidate-led, with job-seekers in 2022 being offered multiple options,” Ben Harris, associate Director at Morgan McKinley, said.

A bumper round of banker bonuses announced by the likes of Barclays, HSBC and NatWest during banks’ earning season over the last week is likely to incentivise workers who were not previously considering a career in financial services to flood into the sector.

Yesterday, Barclays announced its bonus pool has expanded 23 per cent to £2bn, while HSBC also ramped up its bucket of distributions by a third per cent to £2.6bn.

“The onset of bonus season will flood the market with talent that wasn’t previously looking, requiring institutions to move quickly on offering roles,” Harris added.

Banks are pivoting their recruitment activity to focus on strengthening their risk and compliance teams to get to grips with the changing UK regulatory environment.

There are some 98.9 per cent more risk and compliance vacancies in the sector compared to last year, Morgan McKinley and Vacancysoft said.

A shallow pool of qualified risk and compliance officers has resulted in some workers receiving a 25 per cent pay bump as banks push to retain highly skilled talent.