Financial services companies losing staff as competition for talent heats up, survey says

Employee resignations at financial services companies rose after bonuses last year, suggesting increasing confidence among employees to seek better payouts elsewhere.

Employee resignations at financial services companies shot up following bonus payouts last year, suggesting competition for talent is heating up, according to a survey by a recruitment consultancy.

Robert Half said 52 per cent of companies reported a rise in the number of employee resignations following the bonus payments. Only 15 per cent of companies said there was a drop in resignations after the payouts, suggesting bonuses were insufficient to retain staff.

“Businesses need to be wary of the fact that there was a clear increase in the number of resignations made following last year’s bonus season,” said James Maidlow, the senior manager of financial services at Robert Half. “As the market starts to turn, the number of new job opportunities grows commensurately and it becomes more difficult to retain your top players.”

The majority of companies – 84 per cent – said they were either “somewhat” or “very” concerned about losing top performing employees to other job opportunities in the year ahead. The findings were a possible reflection of employees’ rising expectations for more money, Robert Half said.

Nearly one-third of employers said they would increase the level of bonuses paid, while 63 per cent said bonuses would remain the same.

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