By
Australia’s 34% decline in financial services job opportunities was the largest experienced across the leading global financial centres, according to eFinancialCareers’ quarterly Jobs Barometer.
Ours was not an isolated experience, however, with Singapore and Hong Kong registering decreases of 13% and 24% respectively. The UK also saw a significant reduction (-27%) for the period.
eFinancialCareers managing director Asia-Pacific, George McFerran, says the decline of job opportunities in Australian financial services is reflective of a shift in organisation priorities.
“There is currently a definite focus on retrenchment. We are also perhaps starting to see the results of the offshoring programmes that many banks have been utilising. However, despite the overall decline, the new environment of regulation and capital adequacy requirements are driving strong growth in the areas of compliance and legal, risk management and retail banking.”
While McFerran warns taht 2013 is unlikely to be a bumper year for recruitment in Australian financial services, a gentle and sustainable recovery in job opportunities compared with last year is expected.
“We anticipate the job market will be more buoyant in insurance and retail, corporate and transaction banking, where revenue will be more stable and banks will continue to expand to meet client needs. In investment banks deal flows in M&A and capital markets will need to consistently improve to justify more hiring in the second half of this year.”
