It's not even the end of May and suddenly there's talk of hiring freezes
The weather in the UK is colder than it was. So is investment banking recruitment.
Even though it's not quite the second half of the year yet, rumours have begun circulating of hiring freezes.
Several people claim there's a hiring freeze at BarCap's markets business. Others claim there's a headcount freeze at JPMorgan. There are vague rumours of a hiring freeze in fixed income at BAML.
How true is this? It's hard to say. Both headhunters and insiders at each bank deny there's a freeze in place.
However, the fact that some people are adamant that a freeze is underway underlines the extent - in fixed income at least - to which recruitment has gone cold early.
Last year, rumours of hiring freezes began in August. Current claims therefore seem a little premature.
However, last year several banks were building up in fixed income. UBS hired hundreds of people, so did BAML. And we understand that BNP hired 300 net in fixed income in 2010, or 400 prior to resignations.
This year, by comparison, fixed income recruitment has proven lacklustre. UBS and BAML are digesting last year's recruits. BNP says it plans fewer hires in fixed income. An unconfirmed rumour is circulating that Citigroup has recruited 220 people globally for its markets business this year, but hardly any of these appear to have happened in London.
"A lot of banks did a lot of hiring last year and those people haven't delivered," says David Reynolds at search firm Scott Reynolds. "In reality this year is less about hiring freezes and more about very, very selective upgrades."
