Just 29% of respondents chose salary as the most important criteria for selecting a new job, according to research by financial services recruitment firm Empiric.

Its research found that 27% of respondents said that having a good work-life balance was their main consideration.

It also found that 39% of respondents value having opportunities to travel on business, while 33% place subsidised gym membership at the top of their list.

Sam Kamyar, managing director of Empiric, said: “City workers have a reputation for solely being driven by money but that doesn’t reflect the reality we are seeing today.

Work-life balance used to be a dirty word in the City before the credit crunch, but since then many people have re-evaluated their careers and what they want to do with their lives.

“Although salary and benefits are clearly still very important, our findings suggest people now want more from their jobs. While City workers are still prepared to work incredibly hard in order to be successful and move quickly up the career ladder, they now seem to be becoming less inclined to sacrifice everything to a stressful, long-hours culture.”

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