Jefferies: hotter than Goldman Sachs
Which bank is making almost daily hiring announcements, has increased its headcount 18% in the nine months ending March 31st, flies below the political radar when it comes to pay, and has been heralded (by analysts at KBW) as, "well on track to be the next bulge bracket firm over the next 5-7 yrs"?
Jefferies.
The US-based independent investment bank is, as this long, long list of hiring announcement shows, on fire.
It's been hiring in equity research; it's been hiring in rates; it's even been hiring in (US) capital markets.
How long can this hiring go on? Unfortunately, Jefferies didn't return our calls, so we can't say for sure. However, in rates at least, things appear to be slowing down a little.
"In the rates space, we're pretty much where we want to be in terms of headcount," says Daniel Markaity, global co-head of Jefferies fixed income rates business.
Markaity also said there's no big plan to add huge numbers of staff during the rest of 2010, but that "we're always looking at new business opportunities."
As we've noted before, those 'business opportunities' may not prove particularly lucrative for recruiters. Markaity reiterates that most hiring is done by word of mouth: "We bring in a core group of people, and they attract more people in. Sometimes we get to a third stage where we use recruiters to fill key holes, but it's only here and there."
