December saw a 37% decrease in jobs available in London, when compared to last year, according to the latest Morgan McKinley Employment Monitor.

The monitor also showed that the number of professionals seeking jobs fell by 30%, year-on-year.

Morgan McKinley states that the decline in jobs available is because of the EU Referendum.

“Christmas brought with it the standard seasonal mix of business closures, holiday absences, and bonus waiting,” Morgan McKinley stated. “Nevertheless, December 2017 was markedly more depressed than previous Decembers.”

On a month to month basis, the London employment monitor recorded a decrease of 52% in jobs available and a 40% decrease in professionals seeking jobs in December.

The monitor added that in both 2015 and 2016, the December month-on-month decrease in jobs available hovered around the 30% mark, figures that are considerably less affected than the 2017 month-on-month decrease of 52%. Similarly, the year-on-year decrease in jobs available dwarfs preceding years’ figures. Whereas in 2017, jobs to market were down 37% from December 2017 - 2016, December 2015 to December 2016 saw a 16% year-on-year increase.

“In December, the City is abuzz with holiday parties not hiring, so a drop is to be expected, but for it to be such a seismic drop is alarming,” Hakan Enver, Operations Director, Morgan McKinley Financial Services

Meanwhile, the average salary increase for a professional moving from another institution to another was 14% in December 2017. Excluding July’s average, this was the lowest salary change witnessed during the entire year.

“Much can be attributed to an uptick in mid-tier moves, those earning salaries in the range £48k to £65k,” Enver said. “Those on higher bases were more likely to wait until they pick up their bonuses in the first quarter of 2018 before entertaining a move elsewhere.”