What a difference a day makes, or more accurately, a Bank Holiday weekend. A somewhat misogynistic acquaintance of mine traditionally ‘calls’ the start of summer when he sees a given number of ladies shedding their drab winter garb and starting to wear colourful summer clothes. Correspondingly, following a slow and sluggish start to the recruitment market prior to Easter, I sense that, for whatever reason, the market has blossomed exponentially and so I’m pleased to call the return of something akin to a proper jobs market.
By ‘proper’ I mean a market that is not in distinct disequilibrium with an excess of candidates and a lack of roles, resulting in a nightmarish game of musical chairs with multiple candidates chasing each and every role with multiple agencies as well as, at the same time, directly with firms.
Rather, the proper jobs market is one in which the candidate is in the fortuitous position of having multiple offers in front of them, giving them the ability to compare and contrast attributes virtually at their leisure. Such a market also means that hiring managers/firms will have to move much quicker and be much more efficient with their hiring process—no longer can an interview process be strung out over weeks or months.
Additionally, we’ll start to see a degree of remuneration inflation, which has recently been confined to areas such as trustee and Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive specialists, and OTC derivatives practitioners. Hiring firms will be obliged to become more assiduous with the recruitment firms they use, too. Rather than using a firm that farms CVs using LinkedIn or spurious and vague advertisements on jobs boards, offering minimal industry or candidate insight, they will appreciate that only firms higher up the value chain will bring the candidates the business requires.
Another trend being seen is an increased desire from candidates who would previously only consider banks as potential workplaces to consider third party administration or vendor firms. Historically, if you looked at the market in terms of concentric circles emanating outwards with banks at the core, then asset managers, utilities, and vendors, most people would gravitate towards the centre for purposes of job security, remuneration and ‘respectability’.
Now, following the recent years of job losses, remuneration deflation and an increase in regulation and attendant bureaucracy, people are much more willing to embrace the more entrepreneurial and dynamic approach of the vendor-type firms, which, while they tend to pay slightly less on base salary, do have attractive variable pay structures and the added benefit of having commission, as opposed to discretionary bonus, structures in place.
I’m pleased to say that we’re seeing new roles come in on a weekly basis, so if you feel like wearing a new set of corporate clothes this summer, do get in touch via paul@localhost
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