A report from CBI/PwC does not paint a pretty picture for the Financial Services sector and has many recruitment agencies concerned about 2012.

The stats already show 9,000 jobs lost in the last quarter of 2011 and a further 11,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the first quarter of 2012. There are many attributing factors to this, one being that sentiment in the city has fallen further since the third quarter with the eurozone debt crisis weighing heavily on this.

Another concern by the banks was non performing loans, something that is expected to rise over the course of the year, with people unable to pay mortgages and credit cards. This also meant the availability to get credit from banks would be more problematic, whilst banks are extremely cautious about who is eligible for credit.

Whilst this all paints a very negative picture, as with most points there is another side. The actual volume of business done in the Financial Sector in fact grew at its fastest rate since 2007 and is in fact expected to rise again in the next quarter.
What does this all mean? In my opinion the Financial Sector very much mirrors sentiment in general and whilst we all thought we were coming out of this recession, it is quite clear now many countries in Europe are struggling to survive and without knowing which side of the fence the Euro will fall, i.e. intact or separate it is extremely difficult for financial institutions to have a long term commitment. I believe it is a case of lets be very cautious until we know what path this is taking.