see the link: http://www.ijs-global.com/class09/aliceliyuan/
Financial industry: tough time for white-collar workers
By Alice Li yuan
Hong Kong– IJS-Global– April 2– Tom, a second-year associate in a Hong Kong private equity firm, says he has just changed work location, not because he moved to another job, but because the company moved from Central to Causeway Bay. “Our rent in Bank of America Tower was 100 thousand a month, and now we only pay half of it. It’s a time to cut cost of course. We even begin to save paper, not to mention the fact that my boss only takes economy class for business trips now,” Tom explains.
For Tom Zhu, the biggest change occurs in his daily work. “Our function has modified since the financial tsunami. We used to focus on investment–that’s what PE does. Now as the wealth of our shareholders has shrunk, we became conservative with investments. Basically, we’re just playing the role of corporate finance adviser for the moment to earn some commission,” he says. “It has been two months since I left Central. When I saw people working there, I feel kind of lost. I really want to go back to the centre of this financial city.”
Amy Du has already experienced twice acquisitions in her three-year professional career. ABN Amro, the company she originally worked for was bought by Fortis in early 2008. In October 2008, BNP Parisbas took control of Fortis’ operations in Belgium and Luxemburg and it will buy 75 percent of Fortis Bank from the two governments under new terms of sale agreed last month. “I feel strong uncertainty at work. Many fund managers in ABN got fired in the acquisition, and only two people survived in our department. I don’t know whether Fortis will cut more jobs or not. Even though I considered job-hopping, facing this crisis, I’d better stay where I am,” she says.
Unlike Amy, 25-year-old David Zhang thinks more about his future. Work in Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is not as fulfilling as it used to be. “Normally I have to work until ten o’clock at night, but now I can get off work at five thirty. There’s not much to do these days,” he says. “I feel bored and maybe one day I’ll get fired. So I find another job in Shanghai. It’s a small local consulting company, but it’s more stable!”
Sean Jiang was a junior analyst in Investment Banking Division of Macquarie Group. The whole project team he belonged to got dissolved four months ago. “I was given an allowance of three months, but I haven’t received any offer until now. What I’m doing is helping my friend’s company, called Shengjing Capital. It’s a one hundred percent banker refugee camp!” Sean says while smiling.
According to Labour Department, financial industry faces serious unemployment situation. C Tse, Commissioner for Labour said that the unemployment rate for financial industry reached 2.9% until the end of January. She also predicted that unemployment is hardly optimistic in the first half of this year.
A report released by International Labor Organization said that in the period between August 2007 and February 2009, more than 325 thousand people have been laid off in global financial industry. The report also pointed that the actual situation of unemployment might be much more serious than estimated and the financial industry will experience deeper cuts with the recession. According to the report, financial industry refers to banking, insurance, reinsurance, hedge fund, mutual fund and asset management company.
