Around the world: Big Four recruiting in China, accountant shortage in Irish financial services, contractor opportunities in Japan

Fantastic recruitment frenzy at the big four in China

The big four accounting firms have all trumpeted ambitious hiring plans in China recently and have kicked off their graduate recruitment campaigns with a bang. We see what Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, KPMG and Ernst &Young are up to. [Hong Kong]

This is all you need to know about the new global report on the evolution of bonuses

The Institute of International Finance has produced a new report titled "Compensation Reform in Wholesale Banking 2011: Assessing three years of progress." It confirms what many of you will already know: salaries are higher, bonuses are more likely to be deferred, guarantees are fewer. But there are some surprises. [Luxembourg]

Financial services firms in Ireland are facing a SHORTAGE of accountants

It's not often in the current climate that there's a shortage of a particular skill-set in Ireland, but financial services firms are struggling to recruit sufficient numbers of accountants. [Ireland]

These are the salaries you should now expect as a technologist working in an investment bank

Much like those in the front office, the majority of technologists working in investment banks would have enjoyed a hike in base salaries last year in order to mitigate against a reduction in bonus (albeit on a smaller scale). Not surprisingly, these days, banks are more inclined to cut costs than hand out generous pay rises, and this is reflected in a new salary survey by financial IT recruiters the JM Group. [UK]

Downsizing: Why small is sometimes more beautiful for Chinese bankers

Bigger may not always be better when it comes to nabbing a banking job in the mainland. Shanghai recruiters are seeing a trend whereby more bankers are quitting large firms to move into smaller ones. [China]

No longer last on the list: Contracting in Japan's financial sector is experiencing new-found popularity

Contracting has never been conventionally popular with Japan's finance professionals, but increasingly this seems to be changing. There's been a greater receptiveness to hiring contractors over the last two months, says a recruiter we spoke to. [Japan]