The unemployed senior bankers willing to work for 25% of previous pay are being ignored
When Brian (not his real name) lost his equities trading job in London after two decades last year, he knew it would be difficult to find a new one. 12 months later, he's finding that it's not so much difficult as impossible.
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"When I first came out, I had one or two opportunities that looked interesting, but they were both hit by a hiring freeze," says Brian. "Since then, there's been nothing beyond a few coffee chats."
It's never been easy to get a job in a bank beyond the age of 45, but with recruitment down and a backlog of people on the market from the likes of Credit Suisse and Citi, senior people say that finding a new job has become all but impossible.
"The job market is so swamped with applicants in London that it's crazy," says another ex-trading floor professional with decades of experience. "Banks look at my CV and determine that I'm too old. When I apply for a vacancy I think they're also scared that I'll take their position so they have no incentive to reply."
Ageism is illegal in the UK. However, ageism is also hard to prove when it simply means that you don't receive any responses to your job applications. Brian says ageism is worse than ever now that the process is automated by application tracking systems (ATS). "I'm trying to move away from trading and to apply for jobs in compliance," he says, "But because I don't have compliance on my CV already, then I'm instantly rejected by these ATS systems that simply look for candidates who tick every box."
It wasn't always like this. When humans were more heavily involved in recruitment, there was more flexibility, says Brian. Conversations occurred; grey areas and transferable skills were considered. "I've applied for jobs that I know I could do standing on my head but the fact that I’m not doing that job already means I get rejected," he claims.
Many of the senior people currently out of the market say they don't need to work for the money. They'd like to work for the sake of their mental health and because they think they can still add something valuable.
"This industry has been very good to me," says Brian. "I can still serve a purpose. I'd be happy to work for 25% of my previous salary, but I'm being ignored. Even recruiters say it's ridiculous. Unlike law or medicine, finance is an industry that mocks silver hair.
"A lot of the guys I know who are a decade or so younger than me already have new jobs," he concludes.
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