By Ashley Rowe on October 26, 2012 in Finance - XLF.

In a recent Bloomberg News interview, banking analyst Meredith Whitney indicated that 50,000 – 100,000 layoffs will take place in the financial sector. These cuts are a reaction to the sales drought and declining revenue. She goes on to say, "Wall Street is just going to have an extremely challenged revenue environment." We were curious how or if this expectation affects securities-related industries and financial sector hiring trends.

In the chart below, we looked at hiring trends in the financial industries with the most demand over the past 4 years and looked specifically at securities-related industries. Commercial Banking (blue) had the most job ads posted online in September, with more than 55,000 online job ads, an 8% year-over-year growth. Insurance Agencies and Brokerages (red) ranked second in demand with over 29,000 job ads online, a 15% year-over-year increase. Direct Health and Medical Insurance (green) ranked third, just above securities related industries, with more than 13,000 job ads, an 8% decrease compared to the same time last year. Other Financial Investment Activities (purple) and Securities and Commodities Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (pink) remained somewhat steady. There hasn't yet been a notable hiring demand decline in those securities-related industries. The same trend doesn't apply to Securities and Commodities Exchanges (black). Securities and Commodities decreased 64% with less than 200 job ads posted online in September.

Financial Sector Hiring Growth Chart – 4 Year Hiring Trend

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

As might be expected, New York had the most job ad volume. For more on Wall Street hiring trends read Wall Street Woes: Hiring Demand Starts to Fall. New York is closely followed by Chicago. Below is the heat map of job ad volume for the financial industries mentioned above.

Heat Map of Job Ad Volume for Finance and Securities Industries

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

For a full picture of financial sector hiring demand by each city sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics.

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