Vacancies remain at City watchdog despite hiring spree

The City watchdog managed to fill more than 100 vacancies during the summer and autumn, but one in 10 positions still remain empty, new figures show.

Data released by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in response to a Freedom of Information request, shows that there were 449 vacancies at the end of November.

At the time there was a total of 4,821 full-time equivalent jobs at the regulator, meaning that around 9.3% of positions were empty at the time.

In July there were 578 vacant positions at the FCA according to previous reporting from the Financial Times.

The proportion of empty positions was highest for managers, where 56 out of 445 positions were filled, leaving a vacancy rate of 12.6%.

There was also a need for more associate-level staff. The data shows that there was an 11.8% vacancy rate, with 341 openings out of 2,894 at associate level.

In a separate letter to the Treasury Select Committee, the FCA said that the vacancies had opened up for several reasons, including the opening of a new office in Leeds, and the expansion of its Edinburgh office.

“Our headcount (excluding temporary and contract staff and the Payment Systems Regulator) has grown from 3,878 at the end of March 2022 to approximately 4,256 at the end of November 2022,” said FCA boss Nikhil Rathi in a letter to the committee.

“This growth is in line with our strategic plans. We expect our headcount will continue to grow by around a further 300 before the end of this financial year.”

Between April 1 and November 30 last year, 863 people joined the FCA, and 493 left, Mr Rathi added.

He also said that some of the vacancies were being filled by people from inside the watchdog.

“We would expect around half of the current vacancies to be filled by internal moves, which would then result in further vacancies being advertised internally and externally as part of our normal cycle of recruitment.”