The number of jobs available in London has dropped by a quarter as businesses begin to pack their bags after Brexit, a survey has found.
The London Employment Monitor found a 23 per cent decrease in jobs available month on month, and a 12 per cent decrease in professionals seeking jobs.
“Brexit has pushed institutions into two camps,” said Hakan Enver, operations director of Morgan McKinley Financial Services, which carried out the survey.
“On one side we’ve got the ‘business as usual’ team, and on the other we have the institutions that are tired of the government’s hemming and hawing and have already begun to move jobs to other EU countries. It’s the latter group that’s contributed to the quarter drop in jobs available.”
Mr Enver said that many US businesses have set up offices in London to benefit from its membership of the EU as well as the business friendly regulatory system and lack of a language barrier.
“American banks are in the UK for the broader EU market. If Brexit cuts them off from it, they will have no incentive to stay, and will be forced to relocate,” said Mr Enver.
“For smaller European banks, access to the British market will likely be enough to retain some operations in London and other British financial services hubs such as Manchester”.
“There’s no telling what the City or the larger financial services sector will look like a year from today, as companies continue to move a piece here and a piece there. Once enough pieces of the banking infrastructure are dispersed, the whole thing could collapse,” Mr Enver said.
He added that the one area of financial recruitment that he expects will keep succeeding is the fintech sector, the fastest-growing subsector of the industry.
“The security risks are increasing, but employers no longer need to be convinced about the importance of investing in expertise, so we expect hiring in fintech to keep booming,” he said.
rosie.murraywest@ft.com
