Yahoo Finance City 'haemorrhaging' talent because of Brexit, says headhunter
Embargoed to 0001 Tuesday August 15 File photo dated 24/07/13 of the London skyline. The number of City job seekers rose last month as EU nationals scrambled for employment in hopes of securing UK residency ahead of Brexit, but recruiters warn that the Square Mile is still “haemorrhaging talent” as a result of the referendum result. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. See PA story CITY Jobs. Photo credit should read: Chris Radburn/PA Wire Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA
Brexit is being blamed for a decline in the number of job vacancies in the City and a drop in applications for key posts compared with last summer.
According to headhunters Morgan McKinley there was an 11% slide in the number of City jobs in July, compared with a year ago, and a 33% fall in professionals seeking positions.
Hakan Enver, Morgan McKinley’s operations director for financial services, said: “The City is still haemorrhaging talent because of Brexit, and we risk losing jobs, too.”
The firm, however, points to a more upbeat trend in recent weeks with a month-on-month increase in City positions in July – a period when headhunters would not usually expect to be busy and experience a fall-off in applications for work. The number of vacancies was up 1% compared with June, while there were 12% more jobseekers.
Enver said this may have been a reaction to fears that Brexit will end freedom of movement for EU nationals.
“Normally the City clocks out for July, but with the industry being swept from under them, people are scrambling to make the most of the time left in the EU,” said Enver.
Even so, he said there had been a change of language by City firms about their response to Brexit. “Employers and employees used to talk about ‘if’ they had to leave London. Now they’re talking about ‘when’ they leave London,” said Enver.
The Bank of England asked 400 banks, insurers and major fund managers to provide details of their Brexit plans by 14 July. While the Bank has not published details of each firm’s plans, some major employers have started to reveal how they will respond.
Barclays and Bank of America are moving staff to Dublin, while Morgan Stanley has picked Frankfurt. JP Morgan has bought a landmark office block in Dublin that could house 1,000 staff, although its chief executive Jamie Dimon said last month that the number of job it moves would depend on demands from the remaining members of the EU.
