Our 2017 Secretarial & Support Salary Survey for London and Manchester is due to be published at the end of March 2017 and here is a snippet of what you can expect to see. The full edition will also feature a breakdown of salaries as well as stats from the last year. If you are interested in receiving a hard copy once it’s published, please email recruitment@@lilyshippen.co.uk and one of our consultants will be happy to deliver one down to your offices or send it to you in the post.
Recruitment Overview
In 2016 we witnessed a slight pause in recruitment as many firms waited until after the Brexit vote before hiring staff. This in turn effected the amount of expats we saw moving over to London and Manchester, with a definite decrease in candidates looking for work on a working holiday visa. Most of these positions have been filled by UK residents but companies have had to increase hourly rates of temporary contracts to keep candidates in the roles for longer. The market is becoming increasingly candidate led within the Financial Services sector, in particular non-banking financial services sectors such as private equity and investment management. Post Brexit vote, many recruitment freezes were lifted outside of Investment Banking and we saw a rise in permanent roles being released.
Permanent hiring within Investment Banking has declined with many banks reducing or limiting recruitment due to restructuring and cost reduction. Consequently, in some cases there has been a rise in temporary project roles to assist companies with their move out of London. There has also been a notable increase in support positions requiring European languages, particularly Spanish, French and German.
Candidates are becoming increasingly hesitant to take on temporary roles without an indication of whether this will turn permanent. Those candidates who would of considered temporary roles last year are beginning to decline roles in search of permanent opportunities. Roles that indicate a three month temporary position with the view that it would then convert to a permanent contract, continue to be the most appealing.
Candidate market
The start of 2017 has seen a surprisingly candidate short market for what is normally expected in January / February and employers are advised to act promptly when making hiring decisions to avoid losing out on candidates facing multiple offers. Candidates are demanding higher salaries due to confidence in the job market and this is resulting in some firms reviewing their compensation models. The mid-level market remains the most buoyant with firms recruiting candidates with around five years’ experience post degree to support their senior employees.
We have also seen a rise in companies using psychometric and skills based testing. Secretarial qualifications continue to stand out on CV’s with more candidates taking short courses to understand the industry in which they are working in.
Our 2017 salary survey will be released in March with a focus on looking at bonuses and compensation. Please email recruitment@@lilyshippen.co.uk to receive your copy.