Year in Review 2022: Record-breaking year for financial sector jobs in England and Wales

Year in Review 2022: Record-breaking year for financial sector jobs in England and Wales

• Financial services vacancies in London were up 27.4% on 2021
• Q1 2022 was the peak quarter for jobs in the Fintech sector
• Vacancies for IT professionals sought-after despite decrease of -9.3%
• Radius Payment Solutions was the busiest Fintech firm in 2022

According to the latest Year in Review UK Finance Labour Market Trends report by Morgan McKinley and market data analysts Vacancysoft, key recruitment trends show that in 2022 there were over 87,000 new professional vacancies in the financial sector across England and Wales. This constitutes a year-on-year growth of 27.6% in relation to 2021.

A regional breakdown of the vacancies shows that London topped the table in terms of quantity, publishing over 45,000 new jobs in the financial sector. These numbers translate into a yearly rise of 27.4% from 2021. Outside the capital, vacancies in the South East took the runners-up spot by recording almost 11,000 new financial jobs, with volumes rising by 41% compared to 2021.

Hakan Enver, Managing Director, Morgan McKinley commented: “Firms will need the right support and reassurance from the Government to provide confidence in what is likely to be an uncertain year. The Government must take action to solidify the UK’s competitive advantage and inject investment into both London and the rest of the UK by increasing trade deals, simplifying tax and investing in technology innovation”.

Vacancy volumes in Fintech dropped throughout 2022

When examining quarterly totals, our data shows that the year started with a bang for Fintech vacancies in England and Wales, with Q1 2022 numbers exceeding 5,000 vacancies – the highest quarterly total during 2020-22.

Vacancies fell in the second half of 2022, with Q3 (4,105) and Q4 (2,293) achieving lower results than their respective equivalents in 2021 (4,520 and 4,631 respectively) – albeit still above the average for the period.

Fast growth shows the increasing importance of Bankers in Fintech

Among the most in-demand roles within Fintech, vacancies for IT Professionals were the highest in volumes in 2022, despite a decrease of -9.3% compared to 2021.

By contrast, vacancies for Bankers experienced the fastest year-on-year growth, up 19.8% in relation to 2021.

Another strong year for Unicorn Revolut

The UK’s top hiring fintech companies for IT vacancies showed that Radius Payment Solutions accounted for the highest number of vacancies (over 1,000), a yearly rise of 21.3% compared to 2021.

Newcastle-headquartered Sage ranked second, with new published jobs experiencing a notable year-on-year change in relation to 2021 (67.1%).

However, the most significant year-on-year growth in 2022 was achieved by Fintech unicorn Revolut, which experienced a notable rise of 71.1%. This is the fastest yearly rise among the top firms.