Most City staff want to quit

Most workers in the City want to quit their jobs and start a new life away from the Square Mile, according to a survey published today.

Job insecurity, financial worries and fear of terrorism are making staff in banking, insurance and accountancy question their lengthy hours and highly pressured lifestyle.

A staggering 93 per cent do not want to stay in their current jobs, while 75 per cent intend to leave within five years and 45 per cent within two.

Given the chance, over half would change careers tomorrow and more than three quarters plan to quit London to pursue their dreams.

Younger workers were the most disenchanted out of the 400, aged 18 to 65, interviewed by human resources consultancy Chiumento for the report, Facing the Future in the City.

Setting up a business was the most popular alternative to the City grind. Nearly a third of respondents said they wanted to move out to the Home Counties, while the same number wished to emigrate. One in 10 dreamed of living near the sea.

Staff at all levels cited financial insecurity and fear of terrorism as key concerns. One in seven worried about pensions, 11 per cent feared for their financial future and nine per cent said they worried daily about terrorism.

Ian Mitchell, economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said: "The City has seen dramatic job cuts over the last two years as equity markets have fallen and merger and acquisition activity has collapsed.

"The resulting reduction in opportunities that this has caused, combined with the threat of terrorist attacks and the weak state of London's transport and housing infrastructure, has made London much less attractive, particularly for those individuals employed in City-type jobs."

Workers were divided over whether they thought London would ever see jobs return to boom-time levels. Worryingly, those over 45 and company directors or owners, were the least optimistic, while those under 35 are more likely to believe the good times would return. Workers in insurance and accountancy were the most pessimistic.

Chiumento managing director Richard Chiumento said: "We must pay heed to the City's elder statesmen, who almost unanimously agree that jobs in the City will never return to boom-time levels. We are working on the basis that the City will downsize its headcount permanently by 25 per cent.

"Many people will have to consider an earnings drop, but with it will come a lifestyle change, providing a more enriched work-life balance.

"In a world where there's little security or certainty, people are taking their lives and careers into their own hands."

Sarah Blane has made the move already, walking out of her job with a financial recruitment company after a year in the City, and is much happier for it. She had been attracted by the salary and lifestyle, but did not enjoy 5am alarm calls and 12-hour days.

Then recruitment slumped after the September 11 attacks and work pressures rose. One day she told her boss she was leaving and went.

Within two weeks she had a new job and is now general manager of Fitness First in Great Marlborough Street. Despite a £10,000 drop in salary, she is healthy and happy and stays late through choice.

Ms Blane, 29, said: "Although the financial rewards were quite nice I had no time to enjoy them. I looked at my life and decided that the prospect of doing the same thing for the next 10 years, with all the stresses and targets, was not what I wanted.

"My husband was working for the same company and he also got out. He's now an art dealer."