The autumn hiring spree - it's back on

13 October 2010

2 minute read

The post-Ramadan period in October and November traditionally sees a flurry of recruitment activity in the Middle East financial sector. For obvious reasons, this has been absent for the last couple of years, but it appears to be back in 2010.

The logic is simple; over the summer and into Ramadan there's little chance of both hiring managers and candidates being available at the same time, so recruitment goes on ice. Towards the end of the year, financial services firms realise there's still headcount to fill and therefore squeeze recruitment needs into the final quarter.

"Traditionally, there's an upturn in new roles being released in October and November, but overriding economic conditions has meant this activity has been subdued in 2008-09," says James Sayer, associate director - Middle East at Robert Half International. "This year, we're already seeing an increase in activity across various sectors including financial technology, finance and accounting, investment and corporate banking and private equity."

A number of banks, including Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Perella Weinburg and Standard Chartered, indicated their desire to grow in the Middle East in September.

The fact that firms are recruiting at this time of year should be more reassuring that overly-exciting. Hiring is increasing, but most employers are far from taking a hammer and tong approach and are still incredibly fussy about who they take on.

"We're expecting Q4 to be the busiest period of the year, but a few issues remain," says Jonathan Gould, consultant within the financial services division of iQ Selection in Dubai. "Firstly, most candidates are reluctant to move because of upcoming bonus payments and few firms are willing to buy these out. Secondly, banks are chasing the same top people within international firms and are willing to wait until February until they're available."

Unfortunately, for the vast majority of people out of the market, this means that opportunities are still decidedly scarce.