A recent report by Morgan McKinley indicates that senior professionals are benefiting from candidate shortages as salaries continue to rise.
Highlights:
- Average salaries are now £48,281 representing a yearly increase of 2.64% and a quarterly increase of 4.7%
- Senior professional salaries have increased over the year by 5% and over the quarter by 13%
- New jobs have increased by 24% over the last month and by 15.6% since April 2004
- The number of candidates has decreased by 9.9% over the month. Over the year the number of candidates in the market has increased by 19.6%
In April the average City salary stood at £48,281, an increase of 4.7% over the quarter and 2.6% since April 2004.
Over the past year senior professionals have seen basic salary offerings rise by 5% from £70,852 in April 2004 to £74,409 last month. Following a slight dip over the Christmas period in 2004, salary offerings for senior professionals have risen steadily over the first quarter of 2005.
Support/Administrative staff have also witnessed a rise of 0.87% in salaries over the month and can now expect to be offered an average salary of £28,407. Average basic salary offerings for middle market professionals are now £42,028.
Robert Thesiger, Chief Executive of Morgan McKinley comments: “Recruitment activity has increased at the top end of the market and this is having an upward effect on salaries. Two factors have contributed to this movement. Firstly, senior professionals are more willing to seek new opportunities as the 2004/2005 bonus round has come to a close. Secondly, general increases in market activity has meant that banks are investing further in their headcount to compensate for the increase in business and revenue streams.”
Over the month of April, new jobs have increased by 24%. Since April 2004, the number of new jobs coming onto the market has increased by 15.6%. Morgan McKinley estimates that there are currently 11,151 outstanding vacancies in the City.
Robert Thesiger explains: “Hiring volumes increased steadily throughout 2004 due to improvements in market activity and demand for skilled staff at all levels and across several product groups including fixed income, equity and credit derivatives is continuing apace during 2005. Likewise, the current growth of the hedge fund industry and an increase in project work driven by regulatory changes such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II is all putting increased pressure on hiring volumes in this sector.”
Candidate shortages continue as numbers fall by 10% over the month
Since March 2005 the number of available candidates has fallen by 10%. However, compared to April 2004, the number of candidates coming onto the market has increased by 19.6%. The time taken to secure a position has fallen by 18% over the twelve months from April 2004.
Robert Thesiger continues: “The market is firmly candidate-driven across most sectors within the financial services industry and the war for talent continues apace. On the one hand, buy-backs are increasing as banks fight hard to retain their best talent. On the other, City firms are recognising the need to offer extremely competitive overall compensation packages in order to attract high calibre individuals to their organisations.”
Source: Morgan McKinley