The number of jobs available in London decreased by 39% in December when compared to a year ago, according to the London Employment Monitor report by recruitment firm Morgan McKinley. At the same time there was a 29% decrease in professionals seeking jobs.

On a month-over-month basis, the number of available jobs also decreased by 52% in December from November and the number of professionals seeking jobs fell by 29%.

Morgan McKinley added that it is common for December to see significant reductions in the wake of a shorter trading month and Christmas holidays, but not since December 2011 has the year closed with so few jobs available, “making Christmas but one culprit for the disappointing downtrend.”

Hakan Enver, managing director at Morgan McKinley, commented, “We haven’t seen this few applicants to market in December since 2012.” Enver attributed the reduction to the Christmas holidays and the ongoing political uncertainty surrounding Brexit.

“We’ve seen January get off to a sluggish start on this front, also. After over two years of navigating the impossible task of preparing for an unknown Brexit scenario, people are fatigued,” Enver said.

Meanwhile, average salaries in London increased by 15% from the previous month for city professionals moving from one organisation to another.

“Whilst you could argue, a 15% increase in moving organisations is a modest increase, it is still short of the heights of the 27% we saw back in May of the same year,” Enver said. “I suspect this will increase as we press ahead into 2019. With Brexit on the horizon, and candidates less eager to jump ship, fixed pay may creep back up in order for companies to attract and commit talented individuals into their businesses”.

Morgan McKinley’s London Employment Monitor will switch to a quarterly model in 2019. The next edition will be available in early April 2019.