Job vacancies in the City of London are almost a quarter lower than at the same stage last year and it is taking much longer to fill posts as the bankingcrisis has sapped employers' confidence.

The average time taken by job applicants to secure a City post has increased to just over 60 days, almost 11 days longer than a year ago, according to Morgan McKinley, the financial recruitment specialists.

City vacancies last month were 2 per cent lower than in February and 23 per cent down on March last year, it said.

Robert Thesiger, chief executive of Imprint, Morgan McKinley's parent company, said: "These figures show that recruitment within financial services in London has entered into a new phase of its cycle.

"Job volumes are lower, candidate supply has exceeded demand for the third consecutive month this year and the time it takes for individuals to secure a new job has increased by an average of 26 per cent.

"I think most would agree that the remainder of 2008 will be tough for both the financial services industry and financial services recruitment."

He said it was clear from banks' first quarter results that, while some performed better than expected, a number of big investment institutions had still to deal with significant losses.

Average salaries remained relatively static, dipping 0.7 per cent compared with February and 2.9 per cent lower than in March last year. People who had plucked up the courage to move, however, were able to boost their pay.

Mr Thesiger said: "Understandably, over the last few months, individuals within financial services have adopted a more considered approach to moving roles; an attribute consistent with an uncertain market such as the one we're in.

"However, those individuals who did seek new career opportunities in March received an average increase of 20 per cent on their previous basic salary."

随着银行业危机侵蚀雇主信心，伦敦金融城的职位空缺比去年同期减少将近四分之一，雇主决定填补空缺的时间也远比以往拖的更长。

专为金融业服务的招聘中介机构--摩根麦金利(Morgan McKinley)称，目前伦敦金融城职位从申请到录用所需的平均时间，已超过60天，比一年前推迟了将近11天。

该公司还表示，上月伦敦金融城职位空缺较2月份下降2%，与去年3月相比更是减少了23%。

摩根麦金利母公司Imprint的首席执行官罗伯特•塞西格(Robert Thesiger)表示："这些数据显示，伦敦金融服务业的招聘格局，已进入周期中的一个新阶段。"

"职位的数量更少了，求职者在今年连续第三个月供大于求，从申请到上岗所需的平均时间也增加了26%。"

"我相信多数人都会同意，无论是对金融服务业还是对金融服务招聘，从现在到2008年年底，将会相当艰难。"

他表示，各家银行的一季度业绩清楚地显示，虽然有些银行的业绩优于预期，但一些大型投资机构仍不得不应付重大亏损。

3月份的平均工资保持相对稳定，与2月份相比下跌0.7%，与去年同期相比降低2.9%。但那些鼓起勇气的跳槽人士，还是能够提升自己的薪资水平。

塞西格表示："可以理解的是，在过去的几个月里，金融服务业从业人员对跳槽采取了更审慎的态度；这与目前不稳定的市场环境有关。

"但是，那些在3月份寻找新职位的人，其平均薪资水平都比原先的基本工资高出了20%。"
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