London's job market is getting crushed by the ridiculous cost of living
House prices are enormous, people often spend half of their salary on rent, and a pint of beer costs on average nearly £4 (for any Londoners that will actually sound not too bad.)
The capital is now so costly that jobseekers are having to leave and employers are being forced to move their offices elsewhere. It's starting to have a big impact on the city's job market.
That's according to financial services firm Morgan McKinley, which just released its monthly data on jobs in London's finance sector.
The numbers - produced in conjunction with crowdsourced pay data start-up Emolument - show that in November there were 6,405 jobs available in finance in London, compared to nearly 9,500 in October, a fall of 32% month-on-month. That's also a year-on-year fall of 13% since November 2014.
The number of people looking for jobs in London also fell massively in November, dropping by 27% from around 14,000, to just 10,492.
There are a few reasons for the massive drop in available jobs, including new visa restrictions for foreign employees, but the big one is this: London is just too expensive.
Employers are increasingly moving their non-client facing operations into cities like Liverpool, Birmingham, and Edinburgh, as employers look to cut costs, and accommodate talent which, Morgan McKinley says.
"Employers are going rural which makes sense from a cost and a recruitment point of view. Many employees are being priced out of London and the cost of living and quality of life, particularly for those with children, can be highly attractive outside the square mile," according to Morgan McKinley's operations director Hakan Enver.
Earlier this year, a report from Knight Frank showed that only two cities on earth are more expensive than London when it comes to renting office space, particularly in high-rise buildings.
Morgan McKinley's numbers also show that the traditional end of year jobs slump has come early this year.
Traditionally December is a slow month for jobs in the financial services industry as Christmas and New Year take a few days out of the month, and firms look to recruit less. But this year November has seen a far bigger drop than normal, signalling an early slowdown.
Enver said of the figures "We normally see a drop mid-way through December as people prepare for Christmas, but it seems that this time the drop, not Christmas, has come early."