Investment banking IT recruiters say C# has taken over from C++ as banks’ programming language of choice.

“There’s a real push into C#,” says Nathan Francis at recruitment firm NJF Search. “Up until about six months ago C++ was the main thing, but we’re now seeing a massive shift in favour of C#.”

Lisa Jobson, manager of the banking IT team at Harvey Nash confirms the move. “This started around 18 months ago,” she says. “A lot of systems have moved across to C# – places like Barclays Capital are now big C# users, but were big C++ houses in the past.”

Francis says many recent C++ projects dealt with exchange connectivity, and have now been completed. By comparison, he says C# projects are typically derivatives focused.

Both recruiters report shortages of able C# talent with business experience. “There’s a real lack of people with around four years’ experience of applying C# in an investment banking context,” says Jobson.

Francis says good C# developers can earn 70,000 to 90,000, plus bonuses.