London sees fall in job seekers and available jobs

Nick Elvin

November saw a 32% decrease in available jobs in the capital, compared to October, while the number of professionals seeking new roles also fell, by 27%, according to Morgan McKinley’s latest London Employment Monitor.

However, while year-on-year figures for available jobs showed a 13% decrease, the number of job seekers rose by 26% over the last 12 months.

“The numbers were somewhat disappointing,” said Hakan Enver, operations director, Morgan McKinley Financial Services. “We normally see a drop mid-way through December as people prepare for Christmas, but it seems that this time the drop, not Christmas, has come early. We should however, remember that throughout the year job seekers have been active, so we would therefore expect some pull back.”

According to Morgan McKinley, the month-on-month declines in both roles on offer and job seekers were stronger than expected, wiping away strong October numbers. New jobs decreased to 6,405, while those seeking new roles decreased to 10,492.

The data only takes into account jobs in London, and the firm points out that in recent years, companies have been setting up middle and back-office units outside of the capital with cities like Birmingham, Edinburgh and Liverpool showing strong growth in financial services.

“Employers are going rural which makes sense from a cost and a recruitment point of view,” added Envers. “Many employees are being priced out of London and the cost of living and quality of life, particularly for those with children, can be highly attractive outside the square mile.”

Another theme impacting the figures involves the Government’s planned visa restrictions for foreign workers. “The financial services industry in the UK is global in nature,” said Enver. “There is a continuous demand for international talent that often cannot be sourced from with the UK. The discussed visa restrictions are a real threat to the UK’s competitiveness.”