Economy

Markets

Industries

Insights

Reports

Events

Firms snap up axed Wall St professionals

By Wen Xin (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-08 08:14

The wave of layoffs on Wall Street has given Chinese finance houses greater opportunities to snap up professionals with expertise in global capital markets.

Some major domestic investment banks and stock brokerages have reportedly started recruiting professionals and experts from financial institutions and multinational firms in the United States and Europe.

The most sought-after targets are those with knowledge of international markets and experienced in research.

A staff member at a leading domestic investment bank yesterday told China Daily that its long-term employment strategy is to absorb financial experts and professionals from international financial institutions.

"The troubled US financial system has tended to push talents into the more optimistic emerging markets," she said, adding that her bank would step up its efforts to recruit international talent.

Other major domestic securities firms are also reportedly developing new recruitment plans to attract more financial experts at a time when more stable emerging capital markets look more attractive.

Some human resource agencies expect that the fallout of US financial crisis will not only prompt more experienced financial professionals to look for greener pastures elsewhere, but also encourage an increasing number of recently graduated Chinese students to return back to work in the country.

The persistent decline in US home prices could bring more trouble to US financial markets and further impact on surrounding markets as more loans go sour.

The passage of the $700 billion financial rescue plan came amid new evidence from the labor market that the US economy is tilting further toward recession.

The US Labor Department reported that companies shed around 159,000 workers in September, the fastest pace in more than five years.

(China Daily 10/08/2008 page13)