City firms buy out big bonuses in attempt to fill banking and finance jobs, reports Joslin Rowe.

These so-called ‘golden hellos’ are averaging £150,000 in the present market according to Joslin Rowe’s latest statistics, but in exceptional cases are reaching more than three times this amount, topping £500,000. Furthermore firms are not paying a pro-rata amount to take account of the fact that we are only 7 months through the year, but the full expected 12 month bonus.

Tara Ricks, Managing Director of Joslin Rowe, part of the Blomfield Group, said: ‘Simply looking at what is happening to basic salaries does not give the whole picture. Bonuses for equities analysts will typically match their basic salary but for some it can be a lot more than this. With 70,000 vacancies in Q2 alone, recruiters are crying out for good candidates, but the smaller pool of high flyers are locked into their jobs until bonus time unless their prospective employer is prepared to open his cheque book. Normally bonus buyouts only start to be offered much later in the year, but the sheer demand for staff means we have been seeing this since May.’

The volatility of the last three months within the finance jobs market has not interrupted this trend. Anxiety levels among staff rose after the stock market began to plunge in May; 56% of City workers expected their bonuses to be affected by the share price dips (according to Joslin Rowe’s June survey). However, employers shrugged off short term market fluctuations and pushed ahead with recruitment plans.

Tara Ricks, continued: ‘Volatile markets seemed to momentarily unsettle City employees who are highly sensitive to short term fluctuations. Employers however, think much longer term when planning their staffing levels and look beyond short term vagaries of global markets. City firms are hiring enthusiastically and we have just had one of our busiest months on record.’

Notes to Editors:
Established in 1982 Joslin Rowe provides the financial services sector with a comprehensive recruitment across the UK and Ireland. On 7 April 2006, international staffing services company Vedior (headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands) raised its stake in Joslin Rowe’s parent company, The Blomfield Group, from 18% to 70%.

For further information/interviews, contact:
Belinda Martin, communications & relations manager, Joslin Rowe, press@joslinrowe.com , Tel: +44 7789 682 754.