With the impact of climate change now becoming an ever-present reality, it is now being recommended that internal auditors globally make assessing the risk part of their purview, and within the UK specifically. Nonetheless, activity has been muted so far in 2024, with vacancies slowing down by 19.7% compared to last year.
VC funding into the technology industry is on the rise again, bringing relief to policymakers. In the UK, FinTech is a major beneficiary of this increased investment, which is directly translating into heightened recruitment activity. FinTech stands out as the best-performing segment within Financial Services this year. If the current pace of recruitment continues, the number of FinTech vacancies in 2024 will be 36.7% higher nationwide compared to last year.
The Government’s Spring 2024 budget has changed the shape of taxation in the UK for high net-worth individuals who are not UK-domiciled. The implications of this change are yet to be seen properly; therefore, when looking at the recruitment patterns, we are forecasting an increase in tax vacancies this year compared to last year’s 32% in London, and 46% regionally.
When examining recruitment activity in the capital, the signs are positive. Indeed, there has been a 24.6% increase in recruitment within Commerce & Industry in 2024 compared to the monthly average of 2023, with increases in retail, media, and technology. In contrast, regional activity has yet to experience such an upturn, with aggregate vacancies down by 5.4% so far this year and Commerce & Industry experiencing a 5.7% drop specifically.
The cyclical nature of Financial Services has meant that as interest rates rose, and the economy appeared on the edge of recession, recruitment slowed down significantly. All this has led to professional vacancies falling in 2023, with a 34% year-on-year decrease from 2022.
