Financial services hiring ‘bouncing back’ following challenging 2023

Following a tough hiring landscape in 2023, recruitment across financial services has reported a much-needed boost, with January data up on the latter part of last year. That’s according to new research from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

The data – provided by the world’s largest network of job boards, Broadbean Technology – revealed that there was a 38% decrease in financial services jobs throughout 2023 overall, with hiring tailing off in the second half of the year in light of some notable regulatory challenges.

However, the number of new roles has climbed at the start of 2024, suggesting that the market could be turning, with 7% more new jobs listed in January than in November 2023. Applications for positions have also risen in recent months with the data suggesting that employers are boosting pay to source talent in what remains a skill-short market.

Ann Swain, Global CEO of APSCo, commented:

The financial services sector has faced some notable challenges over the past 12 months with major regulatory overhauls impacting many organisations’ hiring activities. We saw the impact of these shifts in the second half of 2023 with permanent and contract job numbers both declining. However, the beginning of this year has given cause for optimism and it will be interesting to see how the market evolves in the next few months.