OUT OF LEHMAN: Middle is the new black
Is it just me, or are perceptions of the middle office changing? When I first decided to take my current role in the middle office, friends and readers of this column alike were skeptical. I was warned that stepping into middle office would be the end of the road. But as things go from bad to worse, people are warming to the fact that having a job is better than having none!
As for me, I've put my head down and focused on the job at hand. It was very tempting to reach out to the front office and network my way back aggressively. However, I decided that I would settle into my job first.
I spent all of Nov & Dec 08 working hard. I had a good team, working hours were awesome, the work wasn't repetitive and it gave me good visibility amongst the front office folks and the clients. After a few torrid months, I was surprisingly happy.
When I returned to work in early January I took my first steps towards my front office goal. The pace of the middle office job allowed me to take breaks during the day to meet with my contacts in the front office. I was keen to side step the mistakes I committed at Lehman viz looking to be recruited by the desks that were taking the bank down!
After spending a quarter of my daily pay buying coffees for my contacts, I narrowed down my options to two high volume flow desks. The middle office job came to my help again: I spent the early hours of the morning shadowing the traders and then started my regular middle office work around 9am.
However, in the past couple of weeks I've started to question my strategy as the atmosphere in the front office has become increasingly bleak. When bonuses were announced at the end of last year there was a momentary uplift - front office folks talked of quitting work to travel, learn Chinese, or teach Accounting 101 in small Universities off the southern coast of Spain and Italy! Now, such talk has been completely forgotten.
On the high flow desks, volumes are now a fraction of their levels of September last year (not the best benchmark!). Salespeople are spending more time in online chat rooms than talking to clients. Rumours are floating around of another round of layoffs and groups are splintering so that it's each man for himself.
The environment in the front office has now become so cold and stiff that I have stopped shadowing the traders. Instead, I am spending more time with my middle office pals. In a storm, a haven is invaluable. There seems no point in rushing to the deck only to be washed overboard yet again.
