Hiring across Financial Services is showing signs of growth for the first half of 2025, pointing to potential green shoots of recovery following a tough year. That’s according to the latest data from international recruitment expert, Robert Half.
In its latest Hiring Intentions survey the specialist in Financial Services recruitment reported an uptick in plans to expand permanent headcount, with 46% of respondents set to hire more professionals in the remit by the summer. This marks a seven-percentage point increase on intentions from H2 last year.
Project-specific resources also look set to be in growing demand in the coming months as employers seek to bring in the Financial Services skills they need without incurring additional long-terms costs through NICs increases. Almost half (42%) of firms plan to bolster project-based recruitment in the remit in H1 2025, up seven percentage points on the second half of last year. In addition, the number of those planning to freeze project hiring has decreased by ten-percentage points in the same time frame, suggesting a level of growing optimism.
Salima Izagaren, Talent Director at Robert Half commented:
“It’s encouraging to see hiring in the Financial Services space begin to recover following what has been an incredibly tough market. However, while this is certainly positive news for highly skilled professionals in the specialism, employers will face a tough time attracting these individuals as the impact of skills shortages continues to be felt. Our data showed that 71% of businesses are concerned as to their ability to find qualified candidates in Financial Services. Firms will need a robust recruitment package to convince the best talent to move in the months ahead.”