eFinancialCareers

Morgan McKinley, the bastion of middle and back (plus some front) office recruitment in the City, released its latest monthly employment monitor today. The results are either depressing or gently heart warming, depending upon your state of mind. The depressing news is that job vacancies were down a chilling 32% in August 2008 versus August 2007. The gently heart-warming news is that the number of people registering for new... Read more

To the ‘big swinging dicks’ hauling in the revenues on the trading floor, it might seem obvious that they’re paid more than the bank's back-office staff. But a new report suggests this imbalance is unfair and should be rectified. A wide-reaching 176-page study by the Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group – whose members include Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Morgan Stanley – says that the contribution operations and risk management staff make... Read more

The latest piece of research from Morgan McKinley doesn’t make great reading if you’re trying to find a new job. According to the recruitment company’s latest monthly missive, there are now 2,900 more bankers looking for jobs than there are jobs to be had. Unsurprisingly, given the circumstances, the average banking salary is down 5% year on year, while senior banking salaries are down nearly 10%. The... Read more

Commiserations if your bonus was down – most were apparently static or up. That may not hold true at UBS. Research from recruitment firm Morgan McKinley suggests a hefty 43% of people in the City received bonuses that were equal to last year’s payouts, and 37% saw a rise. A mere 20% were paid down. Even if your bonus was in the depreciating minority, it may not be a fortuitous moment to... Read more

Will SocGen’s rogue trader with ‘deep knowledge’ of its risk control procedures make it harder for middle-office staff to move to the front? The Financial Times reports that the rogue individual, who made losses of €7bn on European stock futures and mortgage write-downs, was able to get away with it thanks to an awareness of risk control gained from his time in the middle office. Nic Leeson was similarly endowed... Read more

Bear Stearns is making another round of redundancies, with jobs said to be going in operations. How safe is the back office? Not that safe if Citigroup’s 45,000 job losses come to fruition – in addition to the 17,000 mainly ops job cuts proposed back in April. Although cuts to structured credit and securitisation jobs have made the headlines this time around, headhunters say banks are already quietly pruning operations businesses. UBS,... Read more

Forget layoffs, write-downs and diminishing profits, the average banker is confident of a nearly 9% increase in bonus compared to last year. At least this is the finding of a survey by recruitment firm Joslin Rowe. Some 500 financial services professionals (most of them likely to be in the back and middle office, given this is JR’s speciality) told the company they expected bonuses to be up 8.9% on last year. Tara... Read more

Which banks and bankers are suffering the most? No prizes for guessing… ACUTE PAIN 1. Merrill Lynch Share price: down 44% since January 2007. Bonus per head*: $181.3k, down 25% on 2006. Net profit for the first nine months of 2007: $1.9bn, down 61%. Redundancies: none announced so far, but exit of chief exec Stan O’Neal is imminent. 2. Bear Stearns Share price: down 38% since January 2007. Bonus per head*: $407.6k, down 20% on 2006. Net... Read more

Spare a thought for the classes of 2007 and 2008. It seems investment banking jobs are proving hard to come by. A student at a leading European business school says banks are still coming to present on campus, but that with the exception of Credit Suisse, few appear to have any full-time places left for 2008: “Places have already been filled by last year’s summer interns. If you missed the boat... Read more

Most people sit around passively waiting for the pink slip. Has Stan O’Neal gone for pre-emptive action? Ever since Merrill revealed a $2.3bn 3Q net loss earlier this week, there have been calls for Stan to step aside. Now the New York Times says Stan’s head has moved closer to the block after he allegedly broached a merger with Charlotte-based Wachovia without first getting the approval of Merrill’s board. Putting aside the... Read more

Rising taxes and falling returns are taking their toll on the co-investing craze. “The amended capital gains tax rules will impact people participating in company co-investment schemes that qualify for business taper relief,” says Chris Sanger, head of tax policy at Ernst & Young. “Assets disposed of before 6 April 2008 will be taxed at 10%, while those disposed of from 7 April 2008 will be taxed at 18%.” Co-investing is nothing... Read more

As the dollar falls, so does the allure of taking a job in the Middle East. Last week, the US dollar dropped to an all time low against the euro and three-month lows against the yen and sterling. With the US Federal Reserve expected to carry on cutting interest rates and the US economy suffering particularly painfully from the sub-prime crisis, the dollar's demise is expected to continue. What's good for transatlantic... Read more