City job vacancies down 52% in December

Job vacancies in the City were down by over 50% between November and December and by 39% over the last year, with Brexit and regular Christmas attrition being to blame, according to the latest London Employment Monitor.

There was also a 40% decrease in professionals seeking jobs, month-on-month and a 29% decrease in professionals seeking jobs, year-on-year.

“In 2018 we saw job numbers fall off a cliff”, said Hakan Enver, Managing Director, Morgan McKinley UK. It is common for December to see significant reductions in the wake of a shorter trading month and Christmas holidays, but not since December 2011 has the year closed with so few jobs available, making Christmas but one culprit for the disappointing downtrend.

He added: “We haven’t seen this few applicants to market in December since 2012. We’ve seen January get off to a sluggish start on this front, also. After over two years of navigating the impossible task of preparing for an unknown Brexit scenario, people are fatigued.”

The survey shows the average salary change for those moving from one organisation to another fell to its second lowest level in 2018, at 15%. Enver stated: “Whilst you could argue, a 15% increase in moving organisations is a modest increase, it is still short of the heights of the 27% we saw back in May of the same year. I suspect this will increase as we press ahead into 2019. With Brexit on the horizon, and candidates less eager to jump ship, fixed pay may creep back up in order for companies to attract and commit talented individuals into their businesses”.

• Vote  
• 0
• 0
• You already voted!