Joslin Rowe reports City names reflecting social changes

PR Log (Press Release) – Jul 02, 2008 – According to an analysis of candidate names securing banking jobs in the City carried out by City recruitment firm, Joslin Rowe, a shift has been revealed in the demographics of City employees over the last decade.  There has been a dramatic increase in names such as Donna, Charmain, Wayne and Sharon.  These made up 4.9% of overall financial services workers in 1998, but the research showed that this figure rose to 9.3% in 2007.

Dev Majithia, Associate Director of Joslin Rowe, commented: “Whilst we're not suggesting that everything can be inferred from a name, at a basic level this research does show some interesting trends over the last 10 years. You could argue that the City is becoming ever more meritocratic and that London’s financial services sector is now drawing workers from social classes formerly excluded by its elitist image.  Although the country’s top public schools do still contribute a significant number of workers to the City.”

In 1998, so called upper class names (such as Quentin, Hermione and Henrietta) accounted for around 2.9% of those working in banking jobs (http://www.joslinrowe.com/operations/browse/ ). In 2007, the proportion rose to 4.1%.

The figures also reveal a large expansion in the City’s international workforce.  The number of international workers securing UK finance jobs (http://www.joslinrowe.com/browse-jobs/ ) in the Square Mile has grown from 8% in 1998 to almost 21% in 2007.

Dev explained: “After the enlargement of the EU in 2004 the number of Eastern European workers in the UK turned from a trickle into a gush. Since then 580,000 people from Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia have registered to work in the UK.  It’s clear they’re not all plumbers. The number of Polish accountants registering for UK accountancy jobs (http://www.joslinrowe.com/accountancy/browse/ ) for instance, had risen sixfold since 2003 - to almost 3,500 last year.”

The most common international male first names in the banking sector were Marco, Arnaud and Pieter in 2007, while Ling also rose into the top ten for the first time, highlighting the increasing importance of Chinese talent to London’s financial services industry.  French names were most prevalent in 2007 however, with Marc, Sebastien, Guillaume and Gregoire joining Arnaud in the top 20.

Dev Majithia, Associate Director of Joslin Rowe, explained: “With the City’s current emphasis on Dubai, Mumbai and Shanghai, it’s all too easy to forget the massive number of well-to-do French expats working in the Square Mile.  There are 300,000 French citizens living in Britain today with the majority living here in London - unbelievably our capital is now the seventh largest French city in the world in terms of the resident French population.  We think there are now about 65,000 French people working in financial services in London.”

There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of candidates with ‘Australian’ first names.  There were 125 candidates named Kylie looking for investment banking jobs (http://www.joslinrowe.com/investment/browse/ )  in the City last year - but Joslin Rowe had none on their books back in 1998.  More than 1% of candidates for City jobs now sport Australian forenames, such as Lachlan and Caitlin. There are currently around 5,000 Australian chartered accountants in London, including 2,479 Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia members.  

ENDS

About Joslin Rowe
Established in 1982, Joslin Rowe (http://www.joslinrowe.com/ ) is one of the leading UK financial services recruitment firms in the UK and Ireland. In April 2006, international staffing services company Vedior raised its stake in Joslin Rowe's parent company, The Blomfield Group, from 18% to 70%. Joslin Rowe recruits for banking HR jobs across London, Edinburgh and Glasgow including long-term contracts, temporary and permanent roles.