Financial services jobs fall 14% in June amid hiring slowdown fears

Job vacancies in the financial services sector tumbled in June as fears increase that uncertainty sparked by the EU referendum outcome has resulted in a hiring slowdown.

A post-vote study by jobs site Adzuna found that finance vacancies across the UK dropped 14% in June compared with the same month last year. The number of advertised jobs in the sector fell from 92,186 to 79,693 year-on-year.

The figures come after a report by the Boston Consulting Group warned up to 80,000 jobs could be transferred out of London and into rival financial centres following Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Week-on-week statistics from Adzuna show that in the seven days following June 25 there was a 7.4% increase in finance jobs being posted in London.

Doug Monro, co-founder at Adzuna, said: "A small uplift in finance sector vacancies since the vote for Brexit may be seen as a sign for optimism in isolation, or just releasing pent-up demand. But viewed against a wider context - there were 12,000 fewer finance vacancies in June 2016 than 2015 - it's clear that the uncertainty around the EU referendum has caused a slowdown in hiring.

"With the pound plunging to record lows and confidence in the property sector struggling, the outlook will remain challenging until volatility reduces - let's hope this isn't the calm before the storm."

Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin are all tipped to poach London's crown as Europe's top finance hub following the referendum result.