City Confident For the Year Ahead

City Confident For the Year Ahead

- eFinancialCareers.com Survey Results -

47% of bankers and financial professionals are more confident about the year ahead than this time last year according to the latest survey of City professionals by eFinancialCareers.com; only 22% of those surveyed by the leading global careers site for financial professionals said they were less confident.

And when looking at the financial markets, 37% believe the FTSE 100 is set to break through the 5000-5900 levels of 2010 and end 2011 between 6000-6499, with a further 19% reckoning it will close above 6500. Only 14% thought it would retrace to below 5500.

Likewise, two thirds of those financial professionals surveyed by eFinancialCareers.com believe the broader UK economy will show “modest growth” in 2011 when compared to 2010 with only 7% believing there would be a “modest retraction”, and just 3% thinking there will be a “serious decline”.

However, genuine concerns remain amongst bankers and financial professionals about the impact of future European nation-state bail-outs on Europe’s recovery following the IMF’s recent intervention in Ireland – 35% being “very concerned” about the negative impact this could have and 57% being “somewhat” concerned.

That said, ratings amongst financial professionals for the Coalition’s handling of the UK economy were positive with 61% giving the Government a 6 out of 10 rating or higher – 10 out  of 10 being seen as excellent, and 1 out of 10 as terrible.

James Bennett, Managing Director of EMEA and APAC for eFinancialCareers.com, said:

“There’s undoubtedly a spring in the heels of City professionals again and given the lynch-pin role the financial sector plays in the wider UK economy, this should be viewed as an encouraging signal – but inevitably it will take time for the benefits of an uplift in the City to touch the wider economy.”

Indeed, 41% of those surveyed by eFinancialCareers.com believe their organisations will be increasing headcount in 2011 with 39% thinking it will stay the same;  20%, however, thought their staffing levels would be reducing.

Likewise, the majority (61%) expressed no concern about their own job security in the year ahead. However, 65% did express concerns about being able to improve their own earnings in the UK financial services sector over the next twelve months. Of those concerned about their earning ability, only 14% said they were actively looking for a job overseas in the sector; indeed, more than double that number (30%) said they were looking for a job at another UK based financial organisation, with a  further 16% saying they were looking to negotiate a better package with their existing UK based employer.

James Bennett added:

“Looking to 2011, the spotlight will undoubtedly be on the impact that European reform regulation will have on the City. Whilst still too early to call - initial indications suggest few employees are actively looking to move overseas and instead would prefer to stay in the UK. Indeed, retention of key employees will now be primary focus for UK financial institutions during 2011.”