Nearly half - 48 per cent - of financial services professionals polled in London expect their bonus in 2010/2011 to be higher than the one they received in 2009/2010, according to the latest employment survey by recruitment firm Morgan McKinley.

Of the 235 financial services professionals surveyed, 88 per cent of professionals in the City expect to receive a bonus overall, with 73 per cent expecting their bonus to be up to 30 per cent of their base salary. Whilst 48 per cent expect their bonus in 2010/11 to be higher than the previous year, 41 per cent expect it to be the same. 

“These expectations are a reflection of improving business performance across the sector - key to continued market recovery,” said Andrew Evans, managing director, Morgan McKinley Financial Services.

Even though bonus expectations have improved, when asked whether base salary or bonus was more important in the job hunting process, a majority of 63 per cent of respondents said base salary, while only 7 per cent chose bonus.

“The proportion of salary that people anticipate they will receive in a bonus payout explains why the average City employee places greater importance on the basic salary on offer in a new role rather than bonus. The vast majority of financial services workers are not receiving many multiples of their basic salary in bonuses,” said Evans.

In terms of attitudes towards the financial services job market, a significant 72 per cent of those polled stated they are more confident compared to the same period last year.

When it came to career changes and transitions, remuneration was lower on the list for motivation. Sixty-one per cent of those respondents who said they were currently considering changing jobs cited better career prospects or job satisfaction, while only 12 per cent said better base salary and 2 per cent said bonus expectations. 

In terms of new job opportunities, there was a 23 per cent increase in September 2010 to 4,725 opportunities up from 3,843 in September 2009. However compared with August 2010, available jobs dropped by 15 per cent in September. This pattern was reflected in the number of professionals entering the City jobs market with a rise of 60 per cent compared to September 2009 but only a 0.4 per cent increase in a month-on-month comparison.

The average City salary at 10 September remained virtually static compared to August 2010 levels, up from £53,336 to £53,400, according to the survey.

“After a strong start to 2010 City hiring, organisations are now weighing up their remaining 2010 recruitment budgets against key resourcing requirements. Q4 is likely to see this pattern of fluctuation in new jobs continue as we move towards the traditional tail-off of hiring in December. However, despite the fall in job opportunities in September 2010, the 23 per cent year-on-year increase indicates there is still a lot more hiring activity taking place across the sector compared to last year,” said Evans.

Morgan McKinley carried out a telephone survey with 235 London-based financial services professionals between 27 September and 5 October to find out their expectations for the 2010/2011 bonus round.