London financial sector jobs rose 4% in August despite Brexit, says report

Both job vacancies and job-seekers increased 4% month-on-month in August, the Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor has revealed. This is a monthly study conducted by the recruitment agency which throws light on the key trend data within the London financial services sector.

According to the report emailed to IBTimes UK, the uptick was considered a surprise because August is usually seen as a "sleepy month". There were 8,285 new finance vacancies in August, up from July's 7,980.

Hakan Enver, operations director at Morgan McKinley financial services, said: "The British ethos of 'keep calm, it's business as usual' is clearly on full display in this month's numbers. Factoring in Brexit, summer breaks and the bank holiday, a 4% increase across the board is remarkable."

Enver said there was a rise in the number of job-seekers because of the increased number of Britons opting to take staycations in August amid the recent decline in the value of the pound and terrorist attacks across the continent. Staying closer to home "allowed more time for professionals to consider their careers and therefore, register their interest with certain recruitment organisations", he added.

The study was, however, not all positive. Compared to the same period in 2015, the numbers were much lower. Job vacancies were 20% lower, while job- seekers were 6% lower year-on-year.
Another highlight of the study was that there was a strong expansion in the financial technology industry. Also known as fintech, the industry comprises of companies that use technology to make financial services more efficient. The report said there was a huge demand for roles in digital development and design and also for jobs in the data space such as data engineers, data analysts and data scientists.

Salaries remained steady with the average increase in pay for professionals changing positions standing at 16%.

The report said there were still concerns over the Brexit uncertainty. Enver said they were waiting to see "the terms of the UK's negotiations with the EU [which] is clearly casting a shadow over H2". While the first concern was over the right of EU citizens to work in London post Brexit, the second concern was over the retention of passporting rights.