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* 40% increase in City jobs in Q4 2021 vs Q4 2019
* 34% more people looking for City jobs in 2021 vs 2019
By Joice Alves
LONDON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - The number of financial job
vacancies in London surged beyond pre-pandemic levels in late
2021, in a sign recruitment in the sector has fully recovered
from the COVID-19 crisis, data showed on Monday.
The latest Morgan McKinley winter recruitment monitor, which
details hiring trends across London's financial industry, showed
40% more financial sevice jobs available in the fourth quarter
of 2021 than in the same period of 2019, before the COVID-19
pandemic hit the economy and put the job market on hold.
Last year, more than 32,000 jobs in finance were created in
London, around twice as many as in 2020, supported by a spike in
the second quarter as Britain's vaccine programme allowed more
people to return to the office.
"In broad terms, the job numbers continued to reflect an
encouraging recovery from the impact of Brexit, furlough scheme,
pandemic, and lockdowns," said Hakan Enver, managing director at
Morgan McKinley. He added that growing fintech investments in
London lent a hand.
Half of the financial service sector's economic output in
Britain is generated in London. The sector contributed nearly a
tenth to total output in Britain in 2020, according to
government's figures in December.
Britain's economy grew strongly in November to surpass its
size in February 2020, just before the country's first COVID-19
lockdown, official data showed on Friday.
As the cost of the pandemic becomes clearer and Britain
faces higher taxes and inflation, "we may begin to see a
movement of jobs back out of the UK," Enver said.
But for now, the financial recruitment market in London
remains strong.
London's biggest publicly listed recruiter Hays Plc
said on Thursday employers were having to offer more flexible
working and competitive pay amid a war for talent.
While the overall UK labour market remained tight in 2021 as
many employers struggled to find staff, London saw 34% more
people looking for a new job in financial services compared to
2019, Morgan McKinley said.
(Reporting by Joice Alves Editing by Saikat Chatterjee and
Mark Potter)
