Worried bankers tempted to teach

Anxious bankers fearing their jobs are under threat are to be targeted as potential recruits by England's teacher training agency.

The Training and Development Agency for Schools is planning to visit London's financial districts in a bid to find people who might re-train as teachers.

The agency (TDA) says the credit crunch has already boosted inquiries about teaching as a career.

Its recruitment website has had a 34% annual increase in traffic.

It also says there has been a 13% increase since last year in the number of people registering an interest in becoming teachers.

Job security

The TDA says it will be sending recruiters to Canary Wharf and the City in the next couple of weeks, with the aim of encouraging financial workers to consider becoming teachers.

"These are worrying and unstable times for everyone, and it may be that people are looking toward teaching as a secure as well as rewarding career," says the TDA's chief executive, Graham Holley.

There have been fears of job losses in banks and the financial services industry as a result of turmoil in the financial markets - and the teacher training agency is offering itself as a way into a more reliable alternative.

Teaching has traditionally been seen as becoming a more popular career choice during recession - providing security when private sector jobs become more vulnerable.

There has been also been a growing emphasis on re-training staff from other industries, and earlier this year the TDA launched a Transition to Teaching scheme designed to help people with a career change.

The financial sector's expansion in recent years has seen it becoming a major employer for graduates - raising concerns if such openings are no longer available. A survey earlier this year found that about a third of graduate jobs were in banking or finance.

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