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Wages surge as financial services lead jobs recovery

Employers are paying more to hire professionals as the economic recovery powers ahead

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Companies looking to hire new staff are being forced to pay higher wages as low unemployment and competition for the best workers kicks in

Salaries are up 5.7pc this year for professionals such as accountants, IT staff and marketing executives, as the economic recovery translates into more jobs and more competition to hire the best workers. Recruiters have 8pc more vacancies on their books now than they did at the same point in 2014, according to the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco).

Finance and accounting jobs are leading the charge, with 16pc more jobs available now than a year ago.

IT hiring is also up sharply on the year with a 5pc increase in the number of vacancies, while the increase is a more modest 1pc for media and marketing jobs.

Official statistics show that overall employment increased by 413,000 in the year to July, with sharp improvements in full-time and part-time work.

Finance and accounting workers are in particularly high demand, driving wages up in Britain's business centres such as Canary Wharf, in east London

Increased competition between employers to hire well-qualified staff is also driving up wages. Nationally, wages increased by 2.9pc over the year. Apsco’s recruiters say that professional services workers are racing ahead of that, with salaries up 5.7pc in the past year.

Financial services staff are now being offered packages paying an average of 8.5pc more than they were a year ago, while workers with sales skills are typically paid 16.9pc more. “The fact that salaries are on the up, coupled with zero inflation, means that real wage growth - a measure of living standards - is at its highest level for 12 years,” said Apsco chief executive Ann Swain.

However, she also noted that pay is rising because employers are struggling to find the staff they need. “The economy is losing billions of pounds a year because firms cannot access the skills they need," she said.

"With this in mind, it is no surprise that businesses continue to draft in contractors with high-level or specialist skill sets that would be difficult to secure on a permanent basis, despite the vitality of the permanent employment market,” she added.