Recruitment consultant Robert Walters City Job Index for April 2015 has revealed that permanent financial services vacancies have increased for the second month in a row.

The company says that in addition, contract roles have declined as employers seek long-term hires and the skills shortage is compounded as the number of jobseekers declines and the legacy of graduate under-recruitment during the recession becomes apparent. The figures point to robust job growth in the City over the past 12 months and a tightening of the labour market.

Rober Walters says overall the number of permanent financial services roles in the City is up 80% on April last year. The Robert Walters City Jobs index, which tracks the number of jobs available and candidates seeking jobs in the City of London month-by-month, also shows that in April there were a total of 6,150 financial services jobs (contract and permanent) available in the City, compared to just 2,130 candidates, meaning there were 2.9 roles financial services roles available for every jobseeker.

While the number of permanent roles has risen, the company has seen a parallel decline in the number of contract roles, down 39% compared to April 2014. Despite this decline, jobs still significantly outnumbered candidates in Financial Services as the volume of jobseekers fell 29% compared to last month. For permanent roles there were three jobs to every candidate and 2.6 jobs to each candidate among contract roles.

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Matt Crawford, associate director, finance, said: "As confidence returns to the City a trend towards permanent over contract hiring is evident among employers.

"The lack of graduate recruitment during the recession has left a severe skills shortage across the City. Employers seeking both newly qualified candidates and junior level management staff with 2-3 years of business relevant experience are struggling fill vacancies. Demand being high has resulted in the best talent securing very competitive job offers and in many cases receiving multiple offers to choose from.

"The key areas that clients are seeking to hire continue to be within the Regulatory Policy and Advisory market and interestingly across internal audit as clients remediate against lax controls and improve the delivery of independent review and assessment in line with key regulatory expectations".