Vacancies within the financial services sector during April were at their highest levels since before the pandemic recording an increase of over 275% compared with the same month last year. That’s according to the latest finance sector trends report from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

The data, provided by labour market analytics firm Vacancysoft, revealed that hiring for fintech professionals is showing the fastest growth with openings for these specialists during the first four months of the year already at over 70% of the whole of 2020’s requirements.

Vacancies for IT specialists account for almost a third (31%) of all vacancies within the sector while other in demand skills include marketing, KYC compliance, operations management and client service delivery.

From a regional perspective, London, unsurprisingly accounts for 56% of all active vacancies within financial services with the south east of England coming in second with just under 10%. However, regions such as the north east and north west are already seeing vacancy volumes in the first four month of the year surpass the whole of 2021.

In terms of employers, JP Morgan leads the field – its 1000 vacancies between January and April is already at 53% of its 2020 total. Citi lies in second with 746 new roles while Nat West had 616 roles.

Commenting on the data, Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo said: “This latest data show that the recovery is now well underway – and while these figures show direct employer vacancies, it is clear that the recruitment sector also has a part to play in this recovery, as evidenced by one of our members, financial services recruiter Morgan McKinley. The firm was recently quoted sharing their own data which recorded a 70% quarter on quarter rise in vacancies registered. This clearly shows that employers are continuing to see the importance of the professional recruitment sector as partners in their plans to upskill for the recovery.”