You wouldn’t know it from the last three years, but it’s a great time to be in finance. And the financial services industry is welcoming job candidates with open arms after three years of telling them to go away.
In fact, a recent study by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Employers Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that the number of new hires at financial services firms in the U.K. spiked last quarter to its highest level since the September 2007. The sector added a total of 11,000 new jobs, according to the report.
It was a positive piece of news coming on the heels of Lloyds Banking Group’s announcement last week that it would cut 15,000 positions by 2014 to control its costs.
Still, as bright as the news is for the unemployed, other parts of the survey show a slowdown in business activity. Although the sector is still seeing revenue growth, quarter on quarter, Q2 did not record as rapid growth as Q1.
That, compounded with an increasing cost base and new legal requirements for banks, could spell trouble down the road for banks and other service providers. “Regulatory pressure is still immense and the banks now expect to spend even more than anticipated on compliance over the next year,” says PwC’s U.K. banking leader Andrew Gray. “Concerns about economic recovery and demand have caused a dip in the banks’ confidence.”
Alexander Haislip is the author of Essentials of Venture Capital