Banking and financial services vacancies increase in Q2

The latest Robert Walters South African Jobs Index revealed that the number of vacancies for banking and finance professionals rose from the first quarter of 2017.

Local economic conditions including the recession, political instability and efficiency challenges in larger banks played a part in the reduction of vacancies at the start of the year.

However, as we move into the second half of the year, the jobs market is steadily improving and investment in hiring is increasing, witnessed by the rise in the number of jobs.

“Despite a challenging time for the banking and financial services sector with economic and political banks, there have been signs that the job market is picking up and we expect this to continue,” says Petra Cooper, Manager at Robert Walters – South Africa.

Market overview

It is anticipated that due to the reduction of permanent headcount during the first half of the year, many banks will be inclined to source contractors to fill in the gap as deadlines and delivery become business critical.

“While we anticipate banks to hire contractors to fill permanent positions, we also expect junior professionals who have a few years’ experience to also enter the banking and financial services job market as they look to transition into a new role,” Petra Cooper, Manager at Robert Walters – South Africa.

Equity professionals highly sought after

Equity professionals continue to be in demand as there is a high staff turnover in banks.  With the short supply of EE candidates, banks are encouraged to review competitive recruitment strategies to secure equity professionals.

Strategies like shortening the hiring process and reducing the time from interview to offer can be effective in securing candidates who are engaged in more than one offer.

Organisations that are flexible in their hiring approach and those able to offer a clear potential career path and competitive pay will be more appealing to job seekers

“Organisations that are flexible in their hiring approach and those able to offer a clear potential career path and competitive pay will be more appealing to job seekers”, Petra Cooper, Manager at Robert Walters. – South Africa.

About the South African job index

The Robert Walters Job Index tracks advertising volumes across leading job boards in South Africa across the accountancy and finance, banking and financial services, IT, sales, marketing across South Africa. The Index was launched in Q1 2013.

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