Job outlook not so rosy

The job outlook in the financial services industry has followed the negative trends of overall job market, according to the latest job index figures compiled by TMP worldwide.

TMP worldwide, formerly known as Morgan & Banks, has released a quarterly survey which reviewed 6,328 employers.

It found that 30 per cent of companies in the financial services sector said they intended to create new jobs this forthcoming quarter, while 11.3 per cent will be laying off staff, giving a net effect of 18.6 per cent. This figure is down 10.9 per cent since the last survey and a massive 15.6 per cent in the same period last year.

But TMP Morgan & Banks deputy chief executive Wayman Chapman says the results of the survey are in line with the attitude of the industry in general.

Of the larger institutions with more than 200 staff members, the survey found that the firms are extremely concerned about the state of the economy. While 23.3 per cent of firms report intentions to create new jobs in the next quarter, 17.1 percent predict that they will lay off staff in the following three months, giving a net effect of 6.1 per cent. This is down 14.5 per cent over the prior survey and 18.7 per cent in the November period. It is also the lowest recorded result since August 1996.

Chapman remains upbeat about what the survey results are saying.

"There is nothing in the financial services that is inconsistent, and that is the general trend of the industry across all sectors. This is not a negative survey, just not as positive," he says.<B>