Good times creeping back in as rising activity lifts jobs market
A flood of equity-raising and corporate activity is stretching Hong Kong's financial services job market, with bargaining power creeping back in and pressure mounting on salaries.
Job-hopping is making a comeback as financial services professionals can afford to be more choosy.
While the investment banks appear more cautious in their pace of hiring, some accountancy firms are increasingly stretched to meet the demand of clients - particularly in China - seeking a listing on Hong Kong's stock exchange.
As staff travel to remote parts of China to prepare companies for listings, their colleagues in Hong Kong are working non-stop to cope with an ever-increasing workload.
The reversal appears to be across the board.
'Overall, we've seen a very strong pick-up since December,' said Ann Lee, a manager at headhunter Imprint. 'In terms of the number of new jobs, we've seen about a 20 per cent to 30 per cent increase in every aspect.'
After years of an employment pull-back at investment banks a corner may have been turned. 'If [the market] hadn't bounced back in the second half of 2003, I think the industry would have been making more cuts,' said Morgan Stanley's Peter Churchouse.
'Guys are running around like crazy from having nothing to do 12 months ago and struggling to justify their existence, to now burning the midnight oil.'
Headhunters such as Max Lummis, head of Executive Access, stressed investment banks were making cautious hires. Mr Lummis said salaries would creep up, although with bonuses, 'it's a long way to go up from here'.
Accountancy firms such as Ernst & Young have hired 100 people this year, and it is frantic for more, according to partner Catherine Yen.
PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Kennedy Liu said the Big Four were facing a double hit as they worked on client audits and coped with surging demand for work on initial public offerings.
It expects to hire 820 people in Hong Kong and China this year against 690 last year.
'We can't take any more deals that are shooting for a September window. We simply don't have people to handle any more deals,' Mr Liu said.
The return of headhunters has begun to bite at Sun Hung Kai & Co, according to chief group operating officer David Parker. Turnover is up, with heavy IPOs requiring it to take on more staff when manual processing is required.
'I think everyone has to prioritise ... in terms of the business you do,' said Paul Calello, the chairman and chief executive for the Asia-Pacific at CSFB.
'It's not new, but it's more important now, in these demanding markets, than ever before.'
Happy working days - B16
