The financial services sector in London appears to have rebounded from the downbeat jobs trend in the UK, with vacancies growing by 10 per cent in the first half of 2025 and employers showing more appetite for hiring.

Recruitment consultant Morgan McKinley said banks and other finance firms were seeking to fill tech-driven and operational roles, with strong competition for talent in fintech, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and compliance.

London was regaining its crown as the sector’s hiring centre after several years of dispersion to the regions, according to the firm’s latest labour market trends report, while improved investor sentiment and policy clarity had produced an increase in hiring plans.

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It is now forecasting an 11.2 per cent increase in professional financial services vacancies in London for the whole of 2025 to more than 52,000. London accounts for almost 48 per cent of employment across the financial services sector.

The figures were based on data from Vacancysoft, a data group that collects information on vacancies from multiple recruitment platforms.

David Neal, managing director of Morgan McKinley, said the latest data signalled “renewed momentum,” though he cautioned that vacancies were still much weaker than before the pandemic years.

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“The UK financial services sector is evolving fast, with hiring trends shaped by rapid tech adoption, regulatory change and shifting workforce expectations. Roles in fintech, data, AI and cybersecurity are now central to operations, while regulation is driving demand in risk and audit functions.”

The improvement in City vacancies compares with a gloomier picture across the UK. Vacancies nationwide fell 5.8 per cent in the May to July quarter to 718,000, according to the Office for National Statistics last week, and have been declining continuously for three years.

JP Morgan and Barclays were the two standout finance sector recruiters, according to the Morgan McKinley report, which forecast they would seek to post, respectively, 1,996 and 1,048 vacancies over the whole of 2025, up 22 per cent and 55 per cent.

Other big potential finance sector hirers identified in the report included Visa, Capgemini, Deloitte and Goldman Sachs.

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However, some institutions have been pulling in their horns. HSBC, which has closed its UK investment banking business, was forecast to need to fill just 300 vacancies in the year, which would be down 49 per cent on 2024.

Sentiment in the City has improved since the April shock of Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff threats. The FTSE 100 has rallied 19 per cent from that April nadir and is up 11 per cent year to date.