With six months to go until Brexit, just 630 finance jobs have moved out of the UK, according to a new Reuters survey.
That’s far lower than the number originally predicted to leave after the UK voted in 2016 to leave the EU. Despite bankers and politicians fearing a mass exodus, financial institutions now say they expect 5,800 or so jobs to shift from the UK if there’s a hard Brexit, down from the original 10,000.
Workers are seen crossing London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London, Britain, September 25, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville
LONDON (Reuters) – As few as 630 UK-based finance jobs have been shifted or created overseas with just six months to go before Brexit, a far lower total than banks said could move after Britain’s surprise vote to leave the European Union, according to a new Reuters survey.
Many bankers and politicians predicted after the June 2016 referendum that leaving the EU would prompt a mass exodus of jobs and business and deal a crippling blow to London’s position in global finance.
But as Brexit Day nears, 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.
By Andrew MacAskill, Simon Jessop, Carolyn Cohn
