Confidence in the world’s financial markets is shaky – at least for the moment – and the fall-out from the infamous credit crunch and US “sub-prime” mortgage market is only just beginning to be felt. Lehman Brothers, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse have all announced redundancies, some in London. Is now the worst time to consider a career in banking?

Don’t believe the scary headlines, says Neil Owen, a regional director at Robert Half International, a recruitment consultancy. “We have seen various large banks talk about redundancies and job losses, but at the same time within the finance and accounting world and within the middle and back-office operations world, we are seeing very little evidence of it. Everyone is waiting to see what happens but, as yet, it has not rolled on to a reduction in job opportunities.”

Nigel Gordon-Johnson, the manager of banking operations, compliance and corporate finance at Badenoch & Clark, a recruitment consult-ancy, is not one for doom and gloom. Market volatility means trading activity, and transactions mean work for support staff in middle and back-office functions, he says.

Banks are hiring to meet this demand. “There is a necessity to get people on board quickly – people with at least two years’ experience. There is a trend towards corporations doing that.”

The shortage of City talent means that skilled workers are still highly sought after. There is a sense of caution, Gordon-Johnson says, but no sign of a slowdown in the jobs market at the moment.

The credit crunch will make a dent in front-office, credit-related roles, but elsewhere the situation is far from bleak, says Guy Davies, the managing director at Hogarth Davies Lloyd, an executive recruitment firm. Barring any further shocks, banks will continue to recruit in other areas that are turning a profit.

“In terms of hiring there are other product areas across the broader investment banking spectrum that will continue to be profitable and where firms will want to carry on building,” he says.

The recent markets merry-go-round will inevitably have some effect on graduate recruitment as some banks feel the pinch, Davies says.

“It will not prevent banks from hiring at graduate level, although if a firm has incurred significant losses then it is not unreasonable to suggest that hiring even at the most junior levels would be carried out with far more caution.” There is also speculation about how losses sustained by the banks in the credit market will affect City bonuses. This time last year everyone was expecting a good bonus thanks to the boom in the mergers and acquisitions market. Today you have to look at the bottom line, Owen says.

“This year people are a little bit more realistic but there will still be lots of people who are expecting to be well paid come January, February and March.”

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