Commodities recruitment continues powering ahead

Forget the notion of taking an autumn breather: one commodities recruiter says banks are still as eager as ever to add headcount in the area.

"We haven't seen activity drop off at all," says Jakob Bloch, managing director of search firm Commodity Appointments. "There's still a lot of activity across gas, power, metals and emissions. Banks are not feeling that now is the time to delay hiring until bonuses are paid out."

Ongoing hiring in the commodities market is reflected by today's revelation that BNP Paribas has appointed five people to its commodity derivatives team, most of them from Standard Bank.

Bloch says banks are compensating new hires for lost bonuses using sign-on bonuses equal to as much as 50% of basic pay. "We're seeing some fairly creative deals - banks are letting people participate in the 2006 bonus round on a pro-rata basis, or more."

However, a rival recruiter says the rush of commodities hiring is showing signs of abating as bonuses approach. "Headcount freezes are coming in. There won't be much more hiring this year, but almost every bank is making plans for Q1 2007."