With the volume of IT jobs down, banks are getting more choosy about who they take on. They’re looking to poach elite technologists from the competition, which is bad news for out-of-work techies.

Rory Ferguson, managing director of IT recruiters the JM Group, says: “With redundancies left, right and centre there’s a higher volume of candidates available. But the investment banks are more interested in finding the best individual available, and these people are usually safeguarded by their current employer.”

When multiple projects were being rolled out during the boom times, banks were focusing on getting as many people on board as possible. Now they’re being more discerning.

Andrew Keene, director of investment banking at IT recruiters Thomson Keene Associates, agrees, “In this sort of market it’s more of a holding pattern, which means when they’re recruiting they don’t need just to get bums on seats to get projects done. They can afford to take longer to recruit and as a result if they are going to hire they’re only going to take on the very best people.”

One head of IT recruitment at a bulge-bracket bank tells us: “At the moment, it’s not like banks are thinking too strategically about technology. It’s more about keeping existing projects ticking over, and if that means transferring the best people from other product areas rather than letting them go, then so be it.”

Dominic Hilleard, director of permanent at tech recruiters Cyberteam, adds: “The current market climate is moving back towards the favour of the client rather than the candidate. There are fewer jobs in the open market but we hear there are still similar amounts in the closed market.”