Revealed: The total number of financial jobs the UK could lose due to Brexit

New figures show 

According to the latest EY Financial Services Brexit Tracker, a total of 10,500 UK financial services jobs, including many front office roles, could be relocated to the continent in time for Day One of Brexit, with Dublin and Frankfurt emerging as the most popular relocation destinations. To date, 68 of the largest financial services companies in the UK have said they are considering or have confirmed they will move some of their operations and/or staff out of the UK as a consequence of Brexit.

In 2016, 12 financial services firms publicly estimated that 12,500 jobs would move out of the UK as a consequence of any type of Brexit, but a year on, while the number of firms has risen to 26, the total has dropped to 10,500 jobs. In many cases, details of the types of roles that will be relocated is yet to be provided, but the Tracker data confirms they are not primarily back office or support functions; 18 companies have specified the types of work that might move to Europe and, of these, 14 are client facing ‘front office’ roles. 

Omar Ali, EY’s UK Financial Services Leader, comments:

“Contingency plans have developed significantly over the last year, putting firms in a stronger position to estimate how many UK jobs they need to move. Firms are working hard to find viable solutions that will allow them to continue to serve their customers and satisfy regulators with the minimum disruption.  As a result, many of the jobs that are moving are client facing, ‘front office’ roles to ensure that companies can continue to serve their clients under EU law from Day One.

“The extent of broader strategic restructurings and relocation plans will of course ultimately depend on the specifics of any long-term UK deal with the EU, but a drop in the volume of jobs moving will be welcome news for the City. Whilst the relocation of this number of roles will have a significant impact on the smaller financial services centres on the continent, it is unlikely in the short term to threaten London’s role as Europe’s main financial hub.”