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Square Mile Data Points Suggest Pandemic Recovery
Monday 14th February 2022
While many people’s minds are currently on the spread of the Omicron strain of COVID-19, very positive news has emerged regarding the job outlook of the Square Mile district entering 2022. The close of 2021 Q4 provides a number of impressive statistics suggesting that The City’s innovative ecosystem has recovered and is ready for growth.
Of course, the Square Mile is largely driven by major business industries with financial services, professional services, and business services comprising three-fourths of jobs in The City. This ultimately means that London lies claim to the largest concentration of financial employment in the world. In fact, The City comprises 10% of Greater London’s employment with 542,000 people employed by over 24,000 businesses. Data from the close of 2021 suggests this number will be growing.
Financial services is a great indicator for trends in the Square Mile. In 2021, a total of 32,331 new jobs in financial services were created in The City. This number is double what was available in 2020 and nearly equal to the pre-pandemic number of 2019, suggesting that the industry has seen a recovery despite the pandemic continuing to drag on.
London has also seen a 34 percent increase in job hunters in financial services when compared to pre-pandemic levels. Despite this reality, many companies are still expressing difficulty finding qualified staff members. This challenge is particularly notable in areas such as cybersecurity, data science, and software development, making hiring a critical ongoing challenge for many organisations entering 2022.
Other evidence supporting the notion of a surging economy in the Square Mile is the measure of pay increases when switching companies. Fourth quarter 2021 data for salary increases for bankers when switching roles showed a staggering 19% increase, placing this metric again near pre-pandemic levels.
There are undoubtedly a myriad of reasons in support of the growing trend of a rebounding Square Mile economy. For many organisations, the past two years have provided enough time to adjust to new working conditions and mechanisms that include greater flexibility. Companies have also had to consider how to respond to increasing demands for work-life balance from employees.
For professionals in financial and business sectors, the year-end data is clearly positive news. After London faced a double whammy of the COVID-19 pandemic following right on the heels of Brexit, all signs point to a strong recovery with the potential for growth. While the area is certainly not without challenges, the data suggests a positive outlook overall.
