UBS deferring graduate offers
UBS is said to be asking graduate trainees who were due to start at the bank this autumn to defer joining for a year.
In return, it's apparently paying them half their first year's salary.
"They haven't actually got rid of anyone, but they've emailed everyone and asked if they'd like to take a gap year," says one of the bank's prospective trainees.
The move is alleged to have made it more difficult for 2008 summer interns at UBS to secure full-time places next year. "A lot are filled with the people who've deferred," says one.
A spokesman for UBS said deferrals are nothing new: "This is part of an ongoing scheme through which UBS allows some students the option to spend a year giving back to the community with UBS's financial support before they join our graduate programme."
Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, HSBC, and JPMorgan all said they are not asking graduates to defer their start dates.
