MARKET OVERVIEW
The issues of the current pandemic have caused confusion, uncertainty on a global scale, but how has this affected Q1 of 2020 in terms of recruitment?
The use of technology has been utilised more than ever with a number of clients embracing the opportunities it offers and leading the way to not miss out on high calibre individuals available on the market. With the adoption of video as the norm for interview processes in the current climate, we are seeing timescales from the initial CV send to offer shortening considerably.
Private Equity firms around the globe are starting to introduce a more robust governance culture to compete with traditional asset managers and with more regulatory scrutiny coming upon them. This has led to much more hiring of risk and compliance individuals that have great understandings of real estate and private debt funds. In Europe outside of London, Luxembourg is championing this transformation of how Private Equity is traditionally perceived with firms small and large hiring professionals in this area.
Could this pandemic result with future hiring processes having more technology based interviews? From a hiring perspective it shortens the process dramatically and from speaking with candidates they feel that they are more desired as the waiting time for feedback and next round interviews is shortened.
If you are considering a move to Europe or would like some assistance recruiting a position, please do not hesitate to contact one of our consultants to discuss further.
ROLE PROFILES
Paris:
The banks have continued to drive their Brexit plans with succession growth being positive across the major players in Paris. It has been important to see that majority of the Brexit hires have been completed and the additional hiring was an impact of more workload, meaning positive success stories from these additional European hubs.
It seems that Market Risk positions at AVP banding have been the most popular in times of hiring, the importance of exceptional educational background remains amongst the top priorities. An important thing to note for Global Banks is that they are keen to see candidates that possess a Global Banking culture, this helps with cross border interaction with internal stakeholders. From Compliance we have seen the importance of candidates having strong exposure to regulators, with specific needs of hands on experience in broker deals.
Luxembourg:
The surge of roles in Luxembourg continues to accelerate, making it one of the most exciting European Financial Services hot spots. Roles have been advertised from junior analyst positions to Conducting Officer (head of) frequently advertised. It is very apparent that the Luxembourg market is spearheaded by Private Debt, Real Estate and Private Equity funds. This all adds to candidates’ tenure to be briefer than in other parts of Europe. It is not strange to see candidates change positions every 18-24 months, so having access to a broader talent pool provides a much more diverse range of options. We achieve this by sourcing candidates across Europe into the local market to make it much more competitive.
Switzerland:
The roles from Switzerland have been split 50/50 across banking and fund space, with a strong focus on candidates with strong technical backgrounds. Based on conversations with clients on role profiles and candidates, we would say the Swiss market has followed the London market the most this quarter. We are seeing very established Asset Managers being relatively slow with hiring at the beginning of the year, with a sudden surge of roles and opportunities in March.
The banking arms of business have been busy with middle office functions and governance platforms, with certain arms increasing workforces by 20% due to increased workload. The two arms of Switzerland, Zurich and Geneva, which are most popular, have very different cultures. It seems that candidates that are comfortable in an Anglo-Saxon culture find it easiest to adapt and easily transition into a Zurich-based organisations, speaking to candidates about Geneva it can be more difficult to make this transition quickly.
PREDICTIONS
As organisations adjust to this new normal, many businesses have had to adapt their strategies to attract talent, most notably the introduction of video interviews, for some this has been the whole process to offer stage. This will be something introduced more often to speed through the process and ultimately keep employee engagement at a high.
We also anticipate a cultural change towards working from home and expect this to be something candidates will be looking for with much greater demand when making a decision about a new opportunity.
Clients have already started to be positive in hiring, we will be able to get through this and we are already seeing positive hires across Financial Services with Q3 to be particularly busy.
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For more information about the market or current opportunities please contact one of our Consultants.