Financial IT hiring pause is 'right-sizing'

Any pause in financial services IT hiring should be seen as a sign the industry is “right-sizing” rather than downsizing, according to a London-based IT recruiter.

Unveiling its latest recruitment index, McGregor Boyle said that new IT contractor job postings were running at 50% of their peak earlier in the year and full-time IT posts at 31%.

“While the first half of 2010 showed a sharp increase in opportunities we have now seen organisations hitting the pause button,” said the firm’s managing director Laurie Boyall.

She conceded that the pause may appear “unexpected”, partly because of the sheer strength of hiring during the first half of 2010, which benefitted full-time IT job candidates the most.

But concerns that some financers over-hired IT staff since the start of the year have been continually raised by Powerchex, which screens IT contractors for sensitive jobs in the City.

Still, the dip in contract roles may appear sharper than it actually is, as “many” of last year’s contracts were for “long term projects which are obviously still ongoing,” Ms Boyall said.

According to the agent, the most in demand skills during the second half of last year revolved around developers (35% of postings) and Business Analysts (15% of postings).

Also within financial services and over the same period, the top three most active hirers from a product area perspective were Derivatives (12%); Risk (11%) and Infrastructure (10%).