The number of employment offers across all sectors in financial services declined dramatically in 2009 as compared to 2008, according to research by Powerchex, a pre-employment screening firm for financial services. The study shows that Investment Banks made 83% less employment offers in May 2009 as compared to the same month last year. Insurance firms saw the smallest decline by reducing their employment offers by 28% while Investment Managers (45%), Stockbrokers (54%), Hedge Funds (56%) and IT contractors for financial firms (72%) also experienced significant declines in the number of jobs being offered.

The ongoing research shows a decline in employment offers each month of 2009 as compared to the same month in 2008. The pre-employment screening firm also finds that employment offers in May as compared to April this year, increased within the Insurance (23%) and Investment Banking (19%) industries, indicating a more positive approach in the sector. The biggest indicator yet that companies believe the worst times are over come from the fact that IT contractors servicing the finance industry saw a 100% increase in the number of employment offers from April to May. Offers in stock-broking firms were down by 69% reflecting the continuing decline in trading volumes.

"Most firms in the sector have an official or unofficial freeze in recruitment; however firms continue to recruit selectively. We are seeing a split in strategy amongst firms that operate within financial services. There are those companies that are not actively recruiting and only replacing people who leave critical roles, and on the other hand there are those companies who believe now is the time to position themselves to take advantage of any upturn by hand picking new staff from a large and talented pool of people," says Alexandra Kelly, Director at Powerchex. Kelly also states that there are opportunities for job seekers who are experienced and have a good track record.

Article courtesy of Kennedy Information Recruiting Trends providing leading edge insights and strategies for the recruiting professional