eFinancialCareers

Australian infrastructure investor Babcock & Brown has set a new record for staff cuts at a going concern. It announced this morning that it plans to cut headcount by almost two thirds between now and 2010. Babcock’s stock has plummeted 99% this year, and today’s announcement followed a warning that it was in danger of breaching its covenants and needed to reduce costs by $150m in order to halve... Read more

If you’re looking for a crunch-immune sector of the hiring market, financial planning may be it. Count Financial has slapped a freeze on head-office recruitment, yet the dealer group is still hunting for financial planning talent, according to chief executive Marianne Perkovic. Demand is focused on people who can bring clients with them. “They need to have experience of dealing with clients face-to-face,” Perkovic says. Melbourne-based executive recruiter... Read more

It looks like UBS has done away with the concept of annual bonuses. The Swiss bank today unveiled details of a new bonus scheme, under which ‘top executives’ will receive (at the very, very most) a third of each year’s bonus at the end of the year in question. The rest will be put aside and only awarded if the bank/employee performs well and behaves nicely in subsequent years. “Should UBS's... Read more

Recruitment in Australian asset management has proved more resilient than in banking, but stagnation is setting in and a fall in jobs may follow. Jenny Greiss, an executive at Anton Murray Consulting, says the funds industry is managing the downturn well compared to the sell-side. “Funds don’t hire so aggressively during the upturns, so they don’t need to make so many people redundant when the market turns down,” she adds. Luke... Read more

With commodities prices falling and the markets slowing, demand for commodity traders in Australia is also quieting down. But while hiring is no longer hot, commodity traders are not being laid off in droves either, according to Geoff Officer, CEO of outplacement firm The Donington Group. “We are not seeing any [redundancies], though we are seeing some realignments within investment banks.” Samuel Gilbert, at Tardis Group, does not think recruitment will pick... Read more

A job on Collins Street might be safer than one on Wall Street, but the global financial crisis is still sucking some confidence from the local market. “Recruitment is quieter than this time last year across all financial services markets and there is a preference for contracting in all but the most senior roles. When someone leaves, the firm will always try to use its internal resources first. It’s becoming... Read more

The hiring market for hedge funds is due for a lean patch as potential industry consolidation and the short-selling ban hit home. Spencer Young, chief executive of Australian-based fund HFA Holdings, reckons the number of funds worldwide is set to fall as a result of consolidation caused by market volatility. (Investor Daily) What will be the impact in Australia? Hans Kunnen, head of investments market research at Colonial First... Read more

Get ready for a rocky 2009 – KPMG reckons banks in Australia will slash 10,000 jobs over the next year. The accountancy firm’s recently released annual banking statistics survey states that more consolidation will lead to fewer, larger banks. The scale, scope and speed of the financial crisis will also help to send headcount tumbling. Westpac's AU$17bn takeover of St George is likely to result in redundancies for 10% of... Read more

Things are getting complicated in fixed-income recruitment: the globals are quiet; the Big Four are opportunistic; and the boutiques are growing. There are differences between job functions, too. Sales and trading roles are holding their own, while origination (debt capital markets/securitisation) is taking a tumble. There hasn’t been much net headcount change in the trading teams at most banks in Australia, says Patrick Everest, a partner at Jon Michel Executive... Read more

Amid all the talk of Aussie banks axing headcounts, your job now looks safer if you’re a techie rather than a trader. Cost cutting on the IT front will probably mean a few postponed projects, rather than mass redundancies. And one of the biggest banking upgrades – CBA’s four-year, AU$580m IT renewal – is definitely going ahead, with recruiters still hiring. And what of the other large local banks? ANZ’s... Read more

The financial crisis and the prospect of a regulatory crackdown mean derivatives jobs are in short supply in Australia. Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors, expects the derivatives market to soon be subjected to increased government regulation. “This will have an impact on job opportunities in the financial sector,” he adds. Derivatives traders are feeling the pinch of relatively weak balance sheets, says John Coles, CEO,... Read more

Despite announcing its first fall in profits in ten years, ANZ is gearing up to double its headcount in Vietnam. And there will be jobs for Aussies willing to relocate. ANZ has posted an overall net profit for the year ended September 30 of AU$3.319bn, down 21% from fiscal 2007. But the bank is pressing ahead with its so-called “super regional” strategy of expansion in Asia, with profits in that region... Read more

Reports that CBA is planning a 5% cost reduction have sparked redundancy rumours, and mean that three of Australia’s four main retail banks are in or verging on cost cutting mood. ANZ has plans to reduce management-level jobs, with at least 500 positions said to be at risk. And Westpac, which cut 450 head-office roles last year, is in limbo until shareholders vote on the St George takeover proposal in... Read more

The Australian Government has injected AU$2.8bn into the banking system and guaranteed bank deposits. But will these initiatives have any effect on recruitment? Simon Tobin, national manager, financial services at recruiter Michael Page, comments: “There’s still a lot of caution out there. People are wondering what it will mean: they’re waiting to see what new regulations and government involvement will mean.” Toby Aikins, at search firm Jon Michel, says the injection... Read more

Don’t be put off infrastructure finance (IF) by the decline of Babcock & Brown. If you can get a job in this sector you’ll be well placed to ride out the recession. But only apply if your deal structuring skills are up to scratch. The comparatively solid IF employment market is underpinned by continued government spending on desalination plants, toll roads, transport, railways, ports and other domestic infrastructure. Simon Tobin,... Read more

Finance sector recruitment in Brisbane is suffering like the rest of the country, but certain jobs remain in demand. Compliance, risk, actuarial, audit, IT, regional banking and agri-finance professionals are all comparatively difficult to find, according to Andrew Steele, general manager, people & performance services at Suncorp. “The Brisbane-based candidate pool for specialised banking roles tends to be smaller because the relative scale of corporate head office operations in... Read more

A slow final quarter awaits the recruitment market in Singapore and Hong Kong. With Wall Street and Europe delivering daily doses of bad news, many banks in Asia are simply too scared to sign off on new jobs. But the reflective mood in Raffles Place and Central also means that massive layoffs are unlikely. Financial employers are playing wait-and-see, leaving the chainsaw in the shed for now. James Carss,... Read more

Don’t be shy about showing off your extra-curricular experience on your CV – it may just set you apart from the candidate pack in today’s tough employment market. Jon Michel, principal of Jon Michel Executive Search, says including all-around abilities indicates that a candidate can work hard, play hard and is therefore robust enough to cope with the long hours in the banking sector. “Successful candidates will ideally be good... Read more

As Nomura gears up to integrate Lehman Brothers staff across Asia-Pacific, should LB bankers be preparing for a complete change in their working culture, or even jumping ship in fear of the takeover? The answer, it seems, is that sitting things out is probably the best bet – life at Nomura may not be so different to life at Lehman, and the Japanese bank could offer better job security, too.... Read more

In the wake of the global financial crisis, a leading headhunter has described the Australian banking recruitment market as “two-speed”. John Coles, CEO of Executive Group International, says global banks are in limbo as they wait for direction from new owners and/or overseas masters. Meanwhile, Australia’s comparatively strong economic growth and its mining industry are helping to hold up local commercial banks with minimal exposure to sub-prime calamities. “The... Read more