Banks hire young Britons to prepare for upturn

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Work from home helps cut expenses

London: Banks in Britain plan to hire graduates and take on temporary interns, while laying off thousands of more expensive employees, to ensure that an army of junior staff is available when business picks up.

Financial companies worldwide have announced at least 290,000 job cuts since August 2007. Britain's Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has forecast that a further 34,000 financial jobs could go in London this year. But young blood is still in demand.

“We have learned from experience that closing the (graduate) pipeline in certain businesses as a knee-jerk reaction is a mistake because it leaves us without enough talent coming up internally,” said Celia Connolly, head of analyst and associate management at US bank J.P. Morgan.

Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank said they are still hiring for graduate positions and internships. “Investment banks will need employees in two or three years when the recession ends. So now is the time to fly the flag,” said Jonathan Black, director of the careers service at Oxford University.