Almost half of all City job offers going to women (at last) - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Women received 48.4% of financial services job offers in the UK finance industry in the year to May 2009, up from 44.9% the preceding year and 41.1% in 2000.

• But women’s share of offers still lags the ratio of interviews, with women holding a 50.5% majority of interviews.

• The recruitment consultancy Joslin Rowe said the improvement in the offers ratio came as companies took 6 weeks, or about twice as long as in the preceding year, to fill posts. As a result, the job is offered to the best candidate — is anyone surprised that that person is as likely to be a woman as a man? (OK, we’re puzzled as to why it isn’t more likely.)

• Diversity initiatives also may be helping, the Joslin Rowe managing director Tara Ricks said, but she noted, “Today’s interview process has become one of the most intense we’ve ever witnessed … now only ‘exact match’ candidates can expect to tick all the boxes on each financial services job spec and receive that job offer”.

• Women’s demands, such as flexibility, also increase their appeal during the recession, Ricks added (though we hope that doesn’t mean the greater offers come with lesser pay). “The recession may actually prove good news for women.”

Joslin Rowe’s news release on WebWire