Sital Ruparelia

In the UK, the 1980’s recession had a lasting impact on what remained of the dying Primary Sector industries – namely, coal mining and quarying. The recession wasn’t totally responsible for killing off the jobs in those sectors, but it did act as the catalyst which sped up the transition of workers from the primary sector to the manufacturing and service sectors.

The recession accelerated the structural changes already under way within the employment market and so, in time, created new opportunities and prosperity for workers in another sector.

The 1990’s recession hit the Secondary Sector (manufacturing) and became the catalyst for the loss of countless blue collar jobs and an acceleration in the shift in employment patterns from the manufacturing sector to the service based sector. The career transition and re-training of factory workers and colliery workers to become call centre workers in the North of England being a case in point.

Again, the recession didn’t cause the shift in employment patterns, but merely accelerated the trend. And over time, created improved working conditions, new opportunities and prosperity for most of the workers impacted.

The 2008-09 recession has been dubbed the “Middle Class Recession” in view of the number of ‘professionals’ laid off.

Click here to read the rest…

I recently interviewed the economist and media commentator Mitul Kotecha who wrote guest articles for us at the end of Qtr 1 and Qtr 2 about the prospects for the economy and employment market in 2010.

Mitul is a regular guest on TV news channels CNBC and Bloomberg TV to discuss his views on the global economy and is frequently quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.

As you’ll see from the transcript of the interview below, he’s cautiously optimistic about the prospects for 2010 – despite the recent concerns about Dubai’s debt problems and the possibility of  a ‘double-dip’ recession.

“Cautious Optimism For 2010“

As we approach the end of 2009, what’s your view on the global economy? Click here to read the rest…

Guest article from Mitul Kotecha

The last time I wrote for 6 Figure Career Management in April, the title of my article was Light at the End of the Tunnel.

In it I described how I believed that whilst we should brace for the reality of the tough times that lie ahead, eventually there would be some good news amidst all the doom and gloom.

I concluded with the comment, “Although it may be difficult to see it now there is light at the end of the tunnel and positioning yourself ahead of recovery will be crucial to ensure that you can grasp the opportunities that will likely emerge once you find the light. It is not too late to position for these opportunities especially as now more than at any time since the crisis began there are plenty of signs of recovery or green shoots. The main question is whether these shoots are allowed to blossom or left to wither.”

At the end of last year it looked distinctly like the global financial system was on the verge of meltdown, and that the global economy was about to implode. The change in market sentiment since has been dramatic. Click here to read the rest…

I’m often asked for my view on the economy - and in particular how long it will be before the economy and the job market turn around once again. Whilst I have a view, I’m not really an economist. But fortunately I know a man who is; Mitul Kotecha.
 
Having worked as a strategist/economist for over 15-years in several corporate and investment banks in London, Mitul is now Managing Director and Global Head of FX Strategy for a large European investment bank based in Hong Kong. He is frequently sought out by the press/media for he’s opinions and is a regular guest commentator on Bloomberg and CNBC news channels. And for this week only, he’s our guest commentator.
 
In the article below, Mitul shares he’s views on the global economy, the financial markets and prospects for the job market. As you’ll see from the title, he feels there may finally be some light at the end of the dark economic tunnel…

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Guest article from Mitul Kotecha Click here to read the rest…

As the public outcry over banking bonus continues, most houses are now in the middle of announcing bonus payments to existing employees. 

Bonuses look set to nosedive for the next 12-24months (at the very least) due to depressed earnings through the global recession. But beyond that, the whole way in which the financial services sector (and in particular the Investment Banking arms of those banks) reward their people looks set for radical reform.

But in the meantime, there are still bonuses being paid out this year with JP Morgan topping the list according to some research conducted by eFinancial Careers.

Here are the top 5 ranked houses:

1. JP Morgan

2. Goldman Sachs

3. ‘French Banks’

4. Barclays Capital

5. Bank of America

To read the eFinancial Careers article and see the full listing, click here

In just a few hours, I’ll be running our F.R.E.E teleseminar on “How To Find A Job During Recession.”   You can still register by clicking this link now:  

It’s a timely call given the level of job cut announcements this week across the banking sector.  Credit Suisse, Commerzbank Dresdner Kleinwort, Bank of America/Merill Lynch, Nomura and State Street all announced lay offs in the last few days. Coupled with that, we’ve seen the awful unemployment figures announced in the US yesterday.
 
So whether you’ve been laid off and looking for work or just uneasy about your job security during a recession, be sure to sign up to today’s call. I know it’s a Saturday so don’t worry if you’re out Christmas shopping and too busy to call in – just register and we’ll send you an audio recording of the call in MP3 format so you can listen to it in your own time.  
 
Click here now to register http://www.6figurecareermanagement.com/find-a-job-during-a-recession/
 
‘See you’ in a few hours
 
Sital
 
Sital Ruparelia
6 Figure Career Management
www.6FigureCareerManagement.com

P.S. If you know anyone else who would benefit from the call, then please forward this email on
 
P.P.S. Once again, if you can’t make the call at 3.30pm today (UK), 10.30am (New York), just register and we’ll send you the audio recording so that you can listen as and when you like
 
 

By Andreas Hippin

The Somali pirates, renegade Somalis known for hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, are negotiating a purchase of Citigroup.

The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and their existing cash stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking numerous ships, including most recently a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker. The Somali pirates are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup, pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations have entered the final stage, Ali said.

“You may not like our price, but we are not in the business of paying for things. Be happy we are in the mood to offer the shareholders anything,” said Ali.

The pirates will finance part of the purchase by selling new Pirate Ransom Backed Securities. The PRBS’s are backed by the cash flows from future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden. Moody’s and S&P have already issued their top investment grade ratings for the PRBS’s.

Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu, said: “We need a bank so that we have a place to keep all of our ransom money. Thankfully, the dislocations in the capital markets has allowed us to purchase Citigroup at an attractive valuation and to take advantage of TARP capital to grow the business even faster.”

Shandu added, “We don’t call ourselves pirates. We are coastguards and this will just allow us to guard our coasts better.”

“More asset managers are hiring than are firing staff, according to new research, despite the downturn in markets and investor confidence that has led many in the fund management industry to start cutting costs.”

I think the headline and the first paragraph of this article are a somewhat misleading. The survey in question says more asset managament firms which took part in the survey were hiring (25%) than those that were letting staff go (20%). But there is no data for the absolute numbers hired and fired in the last 3-6 months – data which would I’m sure paint a very different headline.

I sense that a large proportion of the firms in the 25% that are hiring a niche boutique houses as opposed to larger fund managers. From what I’m seeing in the market place (certainly in London), the larger asset management firms are now laying people off to cut costs which means that on absolute numbers there is  probably more firing going on across the asset management sector than hiring.

Nonetheless, the survey does confirm the relative stability within the institutional asset management area inspite of the poor performance of most funds at the moment – something you would expect given the longer term view tyoically held by the trustee boards of pension funds. The number of firms in the survey confirming that they are hiring is also an strong indicator for those leaving jobs from investment banks that asset management (and to a greater extent, Private Banking/Wealth Management) are better hunting grounds in the current market. 

To read the article, click here

Over the summer, I wrote about the job loss league compiled by the Here In The City site. They have recently updated the table  - below are the 10 banking groups who have laid off the most staff as measured by % to total work force:

Bear Stearns – 7,500 job losses, 14,000 financial markets jobs, 53.5% of the total

Lehman Brothers – 14,500, 30,000, 48.3%

Wachovia – 1,400, 3,900, 35.8% (Wachovia’s new owners, Wells Fargo, is thought unlikely to want to have to deal with an investment banking business in the current environment. The smart money thinks that the unit will either be sold of pared back)

CitiBank - 7,900, 30,000, 26.3%

UBS – 5,800, 22,300, 26%

Royal Bank of Scotland / ABN AMRO – 7,000, 28,000, 25% (The recent ‘part nationalization’ of RBS is thought likely to result in significant additional headcount reductions at the Global Markets & Banking Division).

WestLB – 1,530, 6,120, 25%

Fortis / ABN AMRO Asset Management – 490, 2000, 24.5%

Perry Capital – 20, 100, 20%

Ramius LLC – 40, 200, 20%

To see the full league table, click here