Planner sentiment down as new hires taper off

Employer sentiment in the financial services industry has dropped significantly over the last quarter, as employers look to train new staff before seeking additional staff.

The latest Employment Expectations report from recruitment firm Hudson has found that sentiment in the financial services industry dropped 9.4 percentage points over the quarter to 23.5 per cent.

This represents a slip of 22.5 percentage points year-on-year.

The drop in sentiment follows on from a strong hiring period in the second half of 2010, which suggests that a number of employees are now focused on bringing newly hired staff up to speed before seeking new staff.

As a result, hiring activity has now subdued with hiring intentions in the sector dropping 1.3 percentage points over the quarter to 31.7 per cent, and down 21.1 percentage points year-on-year.

But the news is not all bad, as 37.7 per cent of employers said they intended to increase headcount in the next three months indicating a return to normal hiring levels with employers having largely rebuilt teams and many job seekers settled in new roles.

The survey also found hiring for corporate finance mergers and acquisitions transactions was down year-on-year, while another trend that emerged was the focus of banks on growing their international offices at the expense of local hires.