The near meltdown of the financial sector may not have netted any significantly sized institutions in Australia yet, however a sign that some groups are bleeding beneath the surface can be assumed from increased job hunting behaviour.

A burningpants source, with a finger on the pulse of the recruiting market for financial services, has revealed the disproportionate number of employees compared to usual from groups such as St. George, Perpetual and ING applying for new roles.

Perhaps reflecting staff looking to move before the hammer falls, or those who are working within departments that face significant cost constraints, and perhaps feel the ‘writing is on the wall?’

Publicly, only ANZ has recently announced restructuring of any note but is yet to reveal how many, if any jobs, will be lost as part of the move.

However the Finance Sector Union’s Rod Masson believes job losses are inevitable, according to an ABC interview earlier this month.

“As sure as night is day, when a bank provisions big money for bad debts, when a new CEO comes into a bank, inevitably we see restructures and we see jobs shed from the area in order to gouge back costs,” he said.

With tens of thousands of job losses across the finance sector expected for the US and UK, it must only be a matter of time before some groups start to shed more noticeable numbers here in Australia.

The soon-to-be-completed merger of St. George and Westpac will certainly lead to job losses in a post-merger environment – the scale though is yet to be known.

In the meantime it seems more and more of those working in financial services are starting to look for job security beyond their immediate employer – irrespective of whether they are jumping or being gently guided towards the exit.

What is interesting in all this is that only 18 months ago, groups were struggling to attract quality staff into available positions as the market sat a top the sweet spot in the economic cycle.

How quickly sweetness turns to bitterness?

Now it seems there is a flood of quality and experienced individuals coming onto the market, putting employers in a much stronger position than they have been for a few years, wherein ridiculous salaries had to be offered to temp even the most average of average employees on board.