London finance vacancies rise 17%, pushing up pay, survey shows

[LONDON] Job vacancies in London's financial-services industry increased by 17 per cent in July, as pay rose the most in at least a year, according to a recruitment firm.

Job openings in the capital's financial districts climbed to 10,920 last month from 9,315 a year earlier, recruitment firm Morgan McKinley said in a statement on Monday. Starting salaries increased by 22 per cent on average, the most in at least 12 months, the survey shows.

"Some employees are also taking advantage of the quieter months to renegotiate their compensation packages," Hakan Enver, operations director Morgan McKinley Financial Services, said in the statement. "We've seen some staff ask for a raise accompanied with the threat of changing employers."

UK banks are hiring in compliance functions to meet new regulations, while cutting jobs to reshape their investment banks and trading operations. Barclays Plc cut 150 employees at its investment bank, a person with knowledge of the matter said in July, while HSBC Holdings Plc recruited more than 2,200 staff this year to monitor internal processes.

Total pay in the UK, which includes bonuses, rose an annual 2.4 per cent in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said in August.

BLOOMBERG