Major HR firms in India have begun srcutiny of staff at Lehman Brothers, in a bid to pick and choose the best at the behest of other top financial institutions. However, the 2,500 employees of the troubled US firm in India, including those employed in back office operations, face a spectre of uncertainty as the market is not ready to absorb such a big number of people. To add to the trouble, hiring prospects across sectors in general had already taken a hit and are likely to remain so for the next 3-4 months. Employees of Lehman have already started dropping in their r?sum?s to banks like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Declining to reveal specifics, Tapash Sengupta, MD of CHR Global, said, ?Late evening on Monday, one of our clients told us to hire some of the best people from Lehman. This will be about 5-6 positions at the senior management and VP levels.? However, Sengupta refused to reveal its client?s name.
Another consulting firm close to Lehman, on condition of anonymity, revealed, ?There is a lot of panic and we have been receiving calls from employees to help them. Our view is that some good people will be picked up at current compensation but a higher package seems difficult now, as Lehman paid its employees above the market rates.?
The scenario currently shows that the number of jobs available is much lesser compared to the people looking out for jobs in the market.
According to head hunting firms, it will be difficult times for mid level and junior level employees of Lehman because the market is witnessing a cost cutting drive by the corporates which include reduction in hiring employees as well.
Says Pratik Basu, CEO, INX Executive Search Pvt Ltd, ?The overall impact will be on remuneration and attrition, as the remuneration level will flatten in the industry and rate of attrition will be reduced.?
Basu further believes that there is still place for these 2,500 employees to be absorbed as new players are coming in. However, it will be difficult for them to find the kind of salary levels they were used to earlier.
?We are working with a client who told us to look for employees from Lehman. This would be from mid to senior level positions,? revealed Basu.