Almost half of graduates working in financial services are looking for new opportunities as firms struggle to retain their younger employees, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
The study found 48 percent of employees in financial services born since about 1980 are actively looking for new jobs and 42 percent are open to offers, the accounting firm said in an e-mailed statement today. About 21 percent said they would prefer not to work in the industry as its reputation suffered during the financial crisis, PricewaterhouseCoopers said.
“Financial-services companies might have a tougher time competing against other industries for the reputation-conscious millennial generation, whose experience and expectations have been marred by the financial crisis,” said Jon Terry, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. “This generation of graduates actively seek out employers whose values reflect their own, so the sector’s ability to restore trust and re-engage with society will be critical in attracting the best talent from current and future graduates.”
In the U.K., Prime Minister David Cameron in January urged banks to show “proper regard” in limiting bonuses and demonstrate how pay is related to performance as the government executes the tightest fiscal squeeze since World War II. Banks have tried to assuage public anger following the financial crisis by limiting cash bonuses and cutting salaries.
The accounting firm’s survey analyzed 221 graduates working in financial services across 75 countries.
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