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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Dude ()
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| Steve, this is seriously good prose. Were you still working in 1929 ??? Something similar has repeated. Nobody has been through this before. Spare the well-meaning advice please.
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Wizard of EC1 ()
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| Overly optimistic. The train is not just off the tracks – it has derailed, dropped down a gorge and smashed to pieces. Any industry not recruiting is an industry in decline, any industry losing it’s experienced talent to other industries is in serious decline. The irony is that things will still be bad in 2009 and those made redundant next year will see that parallel opportunities, available now, will have dried up, so to be employed in IB now, may actually be worse than looking for work now. The experienced talent is going elsewhere because they have to and quality graduates will be naturally reluctant to enter a severely damaged industry with falling remuneration packages, but growing workloads. As I have said before, there will be a talent drought in 18 months, but this time the regulators won’t be pulling their punches and Banks will have to raise remuneration packages to attract their experience back. |
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Disbelief ()
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| "Banks will have to raise remuneration packages to attract their experience back."
I don't think so. The business just isn't going to be there for some serious M&A / corp fin work. Even if there is, salaries and bonuses will be capped which means bankers might actually start givng decent advice instead of pushing deals just to get commission. |
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Roberto ()
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| How can the words talent and IB can still appear in the same sentence without a little shameful blushing.
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Wizard of EC1 ()
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| Disbelief - I agree regarding M&A/ corp fin work but I was commenting more on strategic change management types, no doubt we will see Basel III soon enough ! Change people are more likely to be needed after the dust has settled and the regulators start demanding better risk, control, compliance. Perhaps there will be a re-balance between front office comp and their enablers?? Thing is, change people are more mobile than most front office roles and this may just lead to a talent squeeze. |
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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miss d ()
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| Think the notion of 'not giving up hope' has truly sank. If you are working in IB during times of an economic boom and for example a bank restructures and you were laid off, yes for these people something better will come along. The market is flooded with talented people right now, and this will only get worse as we approach year end as banks such as ML, HBOS, MS etc that have annouced mergers or buyouts will lay of excess staff in Dec. before their year ends.
I have been hit by the credit crunch twice already this year. Was made redundant in Mar and took on a short term contract until July (all seems ok). The difference in fnding work in Mar compared to now is tremendous (i've just found temp work at 50% below what i was earning to stay afloat)...good times ahead? think positive? lets all reevaluate shall we!!!!! |
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Walter ()
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| Banks have paid too much for too long to too many people! |
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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A ()
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| Think it is an good article from someone who has been around the bloack and has experienced a lot. Don't think of this as the end of the world but use it to find something that you truely love to do. Most people in finance were in it merely for the money and perhaps there is more to life than banking! |
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Hope ()
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| Stephen Lockley is merely trying to offer hope to the few who see none, and I laud his noble, albeit mortal efforts. My kudos to Stephen!
If you recall the news of a few weeks ago, a successful American Indian owner of a fund management house gunned himself and his entire family down, when he perceived his situation as a "no way out" quandary.
In raising comment as you have, Stephen; you may have saved more lives than you can estimate. At the same time, you have demonstrated there is heart yet in the generally cold and calculating world of IB.
At day's end, the current experience has offered I-bankers an opportunity to reassess lives, values and the PURPOSE of their lives.
The same talent which I-bankers possess can for instance, be unlocked to benefit the underpriviledged; e.g. venture philanthropy and/or microcredit schemes a la Professor Mohd Yunus' Grameen Bank.
It is time we re-examined our personal lives and the stewardship of our human gifts, dear I-bankers. Dig deep and hard, and you may rediscover the soul within; and perhaps, realise also that, there is the alternative life of entrepreneurship which may offer you the infinite wealth you crave.
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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David ()
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| Regulation is not going to kill the banking business. It is going to make it go back to what it is supposed to do in the first place. If you have been in the industry from 2003 to 2007, DONT COMPLAIN because you are the lucky ones especially if you earned chunky bonuses. And Above ALL, banks are not the prime value creators so there is no justification of earning those salaries. Deregulation has allowed some people to earn incredible money legitimately, this will never be possible anymore.
I am sorry for those bank employees because they forgot they were employees and not founders of businesses because they earned too much money.
NOW remember you are employees. |
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| Date: |
14 Oct 2008
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Krypton ()
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| The thing that makes losing jobs such a nightmare is the cost of living in London. Anyone who has been working in investment banking can reasonably afford to have some sort of decent life in such a horribly expensive city. When you lose your job and your partner is raising the children, London becomes a very expensive place. Let's face it, other jobs don't pay as much and it becomes a struggle to have a good quality of life. Why not move out of London? Yes, but then commuting becomes a problem and uprooting a family and yourself is always very difficult. People deep down become "accustomed" to London and want to maintain the status quo. |
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| Date: |
15 Oct 2008
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Lewis ()
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| In the late 80s I was back office staff at the last stock market crash. My fellow managers refused to accept lower pay. I took contract work as and when I could wages were not great I got by.Fellow managers fell by the way side.
This time around now 54 times as Bob Dylan said are a changing. fewer contract jobs more competion from younger people this year and on are going to be more of a challenge than ever before. So dont give up hope rings a little hollow just now.
I think I live in the real world allways have done.
Sadly while in the big smoke I was not one of the big bonus boys I was happy to do my job for a reasonable wage and happy to do so.
Steven Lockley I am sure will keep his day job the rest of us back office staff will not be so lucky.
I am of to do the lottery as much chance of a win as getting a new job.
These cycles come and go every 20 years or so 5 years from now we will wonder what all the fuss was about.
Been ther before got the T shirt etc |
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| Date: |
15 Oct 2008
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Nik ()
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| The essense of the article is not utterly untrue, but one needs to take into account that job seeking is a painful process, not an amusement park.
There are absolutely no guarantees at all that laid off staff will happily end up in a better job, that only applies to the lucky ones. |
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| Date: |
15 Oct 2008
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Ben Johnson Volpone ()
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| Most IB's with more than 8plus years work should not have to work again if they haven't wasted all there comp.It was a sweet business do little get lots.let's get real,it was bank robery by he employees. |
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| Date: |
24 Oct 2008
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Masterson ()
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| Bravo Stephen! Your optimism confirms my personal experience of having been laid off four times over the course of a 25+ year physical commodity and energy derivatives career. Each time I have ended up with more interesting jobs...and higher paying!
Now I'm a patent-pending inventor for a different kind of risk management: helping people avoid back injuries. We won Popular Mechanic's Top 13 Tools of 2008 at the National Hardware Show - who ever could have guess THAT would come out of the Enron bankruptcy? (I was at El Paso when they laid off 42% of the workforce in 2002, and then got married for the first time at age 48.) Many good things can come of being laid off, even though layoffs are undeniably painful. My recommendations: (a) Read "Good Grief" by Westberg (it DOES feel like you're losing your mind, but we must grieve the loss of the dream of our lives as we envisioned) and (b) keep praying! |
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