London-based in-house banking roles have rapidly diminished since last year, research by business intelligence company Vacancysoft and recruiter Laurence Simons has found.
Vacancysoft charts the number of available legal jobs in the market at any one time. It found that in the first half of 2015, between 35 and 45 roles in London banks were typically being advertised at any one time. From September last year through into the first half of 2016, however, there have only been around 15 to 30 jobs on the market at any point.
The report noted that vacancies for in-house banking lawyers had been falling even before the referendum result. It said: “It is possible that acquisition and real estate finance may need fewer lawyers depending on the volume of decline in UK-centred transactions. At the moment this is difficult to predict as there is a possibility of increased investment at the high end of the market from dollar based economies looking to profit from an improved exchange rate, so the sector may very well weather the storm.”
Outside the City, the sector held up better, with the report noting that in the regions, vacancies are down 4.5 per cent year-on-year, compared to 22 per cent in London.
The report predicted that European-based banking roles would rocket as overseas banks repatriate jobs. In 2016, the number of legal vacancies in banks in France, Germany, Ireland and Belgium has already outstripped the numbers for the whole of 2015.
The report also found that London jobs accounted for 30 per cent of all UK legal vacancies in 2016 so far, compared to 34 per cent in 2015 and nearly 40 per cent the year before, as the outsourcing of legal jobs to the regions gains traction.
