Banks and students find each other less attractive

Fewer students than usual have applied for jobs in investment banks this year, a new survey shows. The poll by the High Fliers consultancy at 30 UK universities found 9% sought jobs in banks this year, down from 10.5% in 2002 and 10.8% in 2001.

Media and marketing were the most popular choices among the 15,500 final year students.

About 70% of investment bank applicants were men. Goldman Sachs remained the most popular bank and HSBC was second, rising from 7th last year. JPMorgan, which was second last time, slipped to 5th place.

High Fliers said HSBC benefited from vigorous recruitment campaigns and brand-building through TV advertising. HSBC said students liked its broad training scheme, which exposes them to several sectors.

Like many banks, HSBC is recruiting fewer graduate trainees this year - 70 globally, down from more than 100 last year. Investec said it was recruiting none in London after taking on 10 last year, while Gartmore has also stopped recruiting this year. Schroder Investment Management is cutting back from 20 to 12.

Deutsche Bank said earlier this year it expected to hire about 160 graduates in London this year, down from 200 in 2002. In the rest of Europe it was likely to hire 110, compared to 140.

Royal Bank of Scotland is bucking the trend, hiring 30 financial markets graduates this year compared to 25 in 2002.

Morgan Stanley said in March it planned to hire more than 100 graduate trainees in Europe in 2003 but has not given further details.

Investec and Schroder did not take part last week in an annual 'Women in Investment Banking' event organised by the publishing company GTI. Both participated last year.

First-year female undergraduates spend a day in an investment bank or fund manager under the scheme, which aims to encourage female applicants. Sixteen organisations took part this year, compared to 20 last time and the number of students fell from 300 to 240.

Goldman Sachs and Fidelity also withdrew from the event. Annabel Smith, head of diversity recruiting at Goldman Sachs, said the bank hosted its own women's open day in April.

GTI said that although there were fewer places, the number of students who applied to its event was higher than last year at 800.