ALMOST 1000 UK-based finance jobs have been shifted or created overseas with just six months to go before Brexit.
Many bankers and politicians estimated that after the referendum which took place in June 2016 to leave the EU would speed a mass exodus of jobs and business.
However, just six monthers to go before Brexit, the number of jobs that UK-based financial institutions say they expect to move in the event of a “hard” Brexit was around 5,800, just 500 more than the last survey in March, and with more firms responding. That compares to around 10,000 in the first survey in September 2017.
Extreme forecasts for UK job losses in a hard Brexit scenario have ranged from about 30,000 roles, estimated by the Brussels-based Bruegel research group in February 2017, to as many as 232,000 by the London Stock Exchange in January 2017.
Richard Small, a financial regulation lawyer at Addleshaw Goddard, said companies probably exaggerated at first and lowered estimates on more careful consideration.
Companies are now focusing on ensuring they have the right infrastructure in place, including licenses and real estate, so that they can ramp up their operations if they have to.
“They’ve got themselves in a place that they will be nimble and can scale up and down more quickly,” he stated.
Bankers said it is still too early to say what the long-term results of Brexit will be. “The truth is no one wants to move anyone and it all depends on what happens with the negotiations,” said one executive at a U.S. bank.