OVERVIEW
One might easily assume that as Q1 and Q2 saw a more buoyant market with permanent offerings available in various regions, it follows that we are on track for a more turbulent 2022 Q4 as a result of ongoing changes in the Financial market, or that roles are to become less numerous, more competitive. We do not believe this to be the case, at least not for this quarter and the coming New Year: continued conversations with numerous clients across the industry suggest that recruitment continues healthily, with a healthy desire for growth visible across both the permanent market as well as the contract space.
And this is yet not displacing permanent opportunities; indeed, these opportunities still are being made available quite readily. Where contract roles do emerge, this is continuing to usually be due to individual circumstances, such as covering maternity and sick covers. This shows an appetite for BAU within a number of our clients.
Ongoing process-driven roles such as Rewards and Learning & Development specialists continue to be in high demand, and Internal Recruitment itself appears steadfast amongst a somewhat more turbulent politically-charged financial landscape, with numerous clients continuing their recruitment drives at the very least to maintain ongoing processes, and others still appearing to be advancing onwards with their growth plans despite any fears of the recession. As such, we continue to see numerous mandates across our desk for opportunities to lead these strategies across a variety of seniorities.
The contract market itself continues to thrive as well, and with the recent news regarding IR35 in the UK, who knows how this may evolve? And as ever, the Secretarial arena remains buoyant. Though this particular area of the FS world does appear to be offering somewhat more contract-based working, this is not sacrificing permanent opportunities; these remain available at a continuous and steady level. The need for talented Team Secretaries and Executive Assistants is something unlikely to be adversely affected by changing market conditions, particularly at the C-Suite level due to the sheer complexities involved for busy Executive teams; as such, even in a hypothetically more constricted market for 2023, we believe this market will continue in strength over time.
ROLE PROFILES
Many clients are now advancing their plans in the Compensation & Benefits space to retain and attract staff, particularly in an ever-competitive market. As such there is a particular need for strong Rewards staff; quite circuitously, this means that the Compensation & Benefits specialism itself is growing more and more competitive as the year comes to a close, with various Financial Services clients vying for the best Rewards, Compensation, and Benefits experts from across the Financial world.
The broader HR landscape across Financial Services continues to evolve in response to the ongoing changes across the British and global landscape of 2022. For example, there is a continued need for support across the Learning & Development specialism, exacerbated by the need to train incoming hires over the autumn period. Early Careers are a particular niche that continues to be highly desired, particularly by larger branches of the business; more complicated matters such as the effective use of the Apprenticeship Levy in the UK to aid in training new and existing talent continue to justify and expand on the earning potential for these roles.
Internal Recruitment and Talent Acquisition remain highly favoured by our clients, with any 360 sourcing roles remaining relatively uncommon in comparison. Alongside this and other HR Specialisms such as HR Operations and Rewards specialists, the whole gamut of Business Support roles remain highly desirable.
Procurement needs continue regardless of the landscape, and as such clients continue to turn to specialist agencies for support in sourcing excellent Buyers and Procurement Specialists from across the market. In contrast to the Rewards space, Procurement is usually quite a varied profession in contrast to other needs in the Financial Services Recruitment area, as Procurement skills can be more sector-agnostic as the profession requires a strong hand in regulatory work regardless of industry. As such, across various industries, we are seeing Procurement Specialists jumping ship to Financial Services opportunities, and having much better luck in doing so than other non-Professional, non-Financial sector workers might find.
PREDICTIONS
As we continue into Q4, what we anticipate is that many businesses across the Financial sector are thus far still inspecting and considering the long-term future; with this said, if there are fears of the market contracting, these have not been visibly acted upon at all within the Recruitment space. Roles continue to be available across process-driven and strategic opportunities alike, with a need for HR Specialists of all flavours still being highly in demand