Is there an employment freeze in the banking sector?
Over the last couple weeks, despite the many positive headlines, it is becoming more and more apparent that the banking arena, both high street banking and investment banking, in the UK is coming under pressure. Unofficially many believe that Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse and Royal Bank of Scotland (to name but a few) have put in place an unofficial freeze on recruitment. So why is the banking sector only being affected now?
In many ways the volatility over the last two or three years in the financial markets has played into the hands of many investment bankers who make money when investments go up and money when investments go down. However, we are now at a stage of the worldwide economic "recovery" which is proving very difficult and very challenging. Against this background those in the higher echelons of the investment banking industry are beginning to feel the pinch. Unofficially it seems as though trading revenues are now starting to fall back and while many traders will receive significant bonuses this year, investment banking leaders may not be as forthcoming next year.
There is even talk that some investment banking companies are considering reducing their headcount to cut costs in the short to medium term.
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