Following two consecutive quarters of declining employer confidence, the financial services sector is back on track with employers reporting an increase in hiring intentions in the second quarter of 2011, according to recruitment services company Hudson.
According to its recent Hudson Report: Employment Expectations survey of 5,072 employers Australia-wide, a net 33.6 per cent of financial services employers expect to increase permanent headcount over Q2 2011. This is an increase of 0.9 percentage points over figures recorded last quarter.
Dean Davidson, national practice director at Hudson Accounting and Finance, said the strong momentum in the Australian economy coupled with the low unemployment rate have worked together to boost confidence among financial services employers.
“Last quarter we saw a renewed caution among financial services employers due to the continued stress in European markets,” he said. “Organisations watched these changes carefully and although caution remains this quarter, we are certainly seeing a new sense of optimism among employers as the Australian economy builds momentum.”
Davidson added that employer sentiment in the financial services arena continued to be affected by project opportunities and corporate governance work as domestic banks made improvements to core infrastructure and risk management processes. “This could well be underpinning confidence in the financial services sector as a growing number of jobs are created to meet demand,” he said.
