Confidence returning in banking recruitment

Spokeswoman Belinda Walmsley explained to The Wharf how banking is bouncing back.

She said: "Confidence is increasing. We've seen a about a 30 per cent rise in premium job vacancies over the last month. I'd say we're about 10 weeks into a continuous uptick.

"Every week is going in the right direction, with more candidates returning to the market place. There is definitely a positive feeling about things. Jobseeker confidence is better as well, and that's important for recruitment to continue.

"September to March was a very difficult period with a lot of uncertainty, especially after Lehman Brothers collapsed but we seem to have come through the worst of it now."

Ms Walmsley, whose company find candidates for law and accountacny firms as well as banks, also revealed firms are now rehiring in departments that had been badly hit by the economic crash.

She said: "In the first quarter of this year about 75 per cent of candidates in the accountancy division had been made redundant or were at risk of losing their jobs, with only 20 per cent in secure employment.

"But 41 per cent are now in work, so it's doubled in a short space of time, which shows confidence is returning. Organisations had tended to only keep those people who were integral to their operations.

"Those people are still valuable, and are attractive to other companies because of the skills they have, but it is encouraging that recruitment is picking up again."

Despite talk of blockbusting bonuses making a comeback, the average bank employee is having to make do with more modest reward.

"The average salary is about £45-50,000, which is not what most people believe they are. There will also be a shift towards having bonuses paid in stocks, rather than cash, which is something that was starting to happen even before the crash.

"A lot of people are only now returning to the workplace so the issue of reward is less than it was at the height of the market. I think the media and public perception is making it seem more worrying than it is."