Meltdown will not singe future of staff in India

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New Delhi, Sep 21: went for a toss there was an impact felt in India too, especially within Indian companies who had operations in Thailand or Singapore. During 2001-2001, dotcom bust the job situation here was far more turbulent than it is today. The stock markets fell by 50% and companies froze salaries and senior level executives were taking 10% to 15% salary cuts. So far we have seen no such indication although the stock market has fallen by about 38%.”

The next two quarters will be challenging from a recruitment perspective, as companies will be cautious about spending and hiring. Increments will at best be inflation hedged and the investment banks, which are usually big recruiters on campus, will go slow on campus hiring. According to Balaji, “finding alternate jobs will not be an issue for employees, but matching investment bank salaries will”.

Gupta of Korn Ferry adds, “Definitely there is worry amongst investment bankers about what is going to happen to them ‘tomorrow’.

Some are waiting for word on the Morgan Stanley-Wachovia deal; others feel apprehensive about the future of Goldman Sachs. Lehman guys have been approaching recruiters asking them to place 5 or 6 of them together as they would like to move as a ‘team’. Although we have seen unprecedented in pour of resumes over the last week, cutting a deal for a team is a whole different ball game. No one has a deal on the table as far as I know.”

Namrita Jhangiani, Financial Practice Partner at search firm Egon Zehnder International echos a similar sentiment, “The business for investment bankers is bound to decline, and therefore a number of investment banks will lay off some of their team, to keep costs in control. Salaries and bonuses will go down.

Some of the Indian investment banks view this as a good time to strengthen their investment banking franchises and are in discussion with bankers from the international banks at both the senior and mid levels.”