Recruiters Morgan McKinley found 6,405 new jobs on offer in London in November, down from 9,480 in October, and below the 7,350 that were advertised in November 2014. The recruiter believes this is due to banks hiring staff elsewhere in the country, rather than any slowdown in the financial services sector overall. “Employers are going rural, which makes sense from a cost and a recruitment point of view,” said Hakan Enver from Morgan McKinley. “Many employees are being priced out of London and the cost of living and quality of life, particularly for those with children, can be highly attractive outside the square mile.” HSBC is setting up a head office for its UK retail bank in Birmingham where it has historic roots, but other banks are moving staff out of London whose jobs do not require them to be based in the capital. For example, back office and support roles at investment banks do not need to pay the higher salaries of the capital and do not require the prime office space occupied by traders in Canary Wharf. Limits on immigration are also a problem, the recruiters said. “The financial services industry in the UK is global in nature,” said Mr Enver. “There is a continuous demand for international talent that often cannot be sourced from within the UK. The visa restrictions [being discussed by the Government] are a real threat to the UK’s competitiveness.” However, the average jump in salary for a finance worker moving jobs in London did shoot up, hitting 26pc in November, compared with an increase of 17pc in October or 18pc a year ago.
The drop in hiring in London's financial services industry last month, was due tobanks hiring staff in regional hubs outside the capital to save on costs, rather thanevidence of a wider slowdown in the financial services industry. " Many employees are being priced out of London and the cost of living and quality of life, particularly for those with children, can be highly attractive outside the square mile". This is not an isolated case. Recruiters also highlight the limits on immigration as a potential problem, stating that since the financial services sector is global by nature, visa restrictions being discussed by the UK Government "are a real threat to the UK's competitiveness".