Nobody is calling it a hiring boom and recent retrenchments are still fresh on candidates’ minds but finance-sector vacancies in Melbourne are at least now moving in the right direction.

“There’s been a definite upswing in opportunities, especially permanent ones, although the hiring is still small scale. Most roles over the past 12 months have been replacement ones but we’re now seeing some growth, which is a good sign of things to come,” comments Rochelle Eades, manager of banking and finance at Robert Walters in Melbourne.

Compared to four months ago, there has been a 25 to 30 per cent rise in recruitment, according to Toni Maselli, regional manager of banking and financial services recruitment at Randstad.

Banks, in particular Melbourne duo ANZ and NAB, dominate the hiring. “The focus is on business banking, lending and business development – all roles which died down late last year and are starting to come back again,” says Maselli.

Melbourne’s super and funds management industries aren’t hiring as much as the banks but they are now converting more temps into permanent positions, she adds.

In contrast to the prevailing sentiment that recruitment is mainly senior and front-office focused, Eades says back-office banking roles are starting to open up in Melbourne as the revenue generators create more work for support staff.

Junior operations jobs - such as client support, reconciliation and control - account for the bulk of this fledgling upswing. “These type of roles were depressed until recently, so it’s a positive development,” adds Eades.

But is this all simply a spike in a downward spiral? “I don’t think so,” says Maselli, “there are positions in the pipeline too. Employers are talking about future projects, whereas four months ago it was ‘just wait and see.’”