Compliance demand is around the corner
The compliance industry is taking stock as it continues to recruit in the same vein as last quarter and prepares itself for the year ahead.
Much of the recruitment activity seen recently is persisting, including the following key trends. Professionals with Charles River, Sentinel or Mantas experience have benefited from unwavering demand for their system skills in the last few years. Now is no exception, although roles are more likely to be contract or temporary in nature owing to headcount issues. Similarly, demand for mandate checking experience is still high and is expected to continue. While advisory and monitoring job opportunities remain stable, the number of money laundering and KYC roles available continue to fall sharply.
Senior figures are expecting next year to be buoyant
The national press is full of reports that transparency and regulation are now key focal areas as the banking and financial services industry strives to outgrow current market conditions. This is supported by the demand for compliance, risk and regulation professionals which continues from last quarter, despite the seasonal lull in recruitment into quarter four.
Senior figures within the industry are expecting next year to be buoyant for compliance recruitment, with line managers touting the New Year as the dawn of activity. Compliance departments are anticipated to keep expanding, especially as firms that haven’t previously been heavily regulated see more controls coming into place. Whether the majority of hires come from staff moving internally from operations, or from fresh candidates available in the market, remains to be seen. A clearer position should emerge at the end of this quarter, once department reviews have been completed and the market settles a little.
In the meantime recruiters have become a lot more stringent in their recruitment processes. The number of interviews conducted before considering making an offer for the role has increased. The time taken to put together the offer has expanded. And with further business justification required before recruiting, the process is delayed further as sign off is solicited from head office. This situation is echoed across banking and financial services. Employers are advised to keep lead times to a minimum to avoid seeming uncertain, unstable and unreliable, and deterring suitable candidates.
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