Is that really it for Russian hiring until 2012?
Things seem to have taken a turn for the worse in Russian financial services recruitment.
International banks apparently have a hiring freeze and Renaissance Group, which has been hiring steadily in the first half of this year, is now cutting 10% of its global workforce (125 people) to "align" costs with current market conditions. The group is cutting 125 jobs from an overall headcount of 1,250.
VTB also announced a 10% reduction in staff recently and headhunters say it's all a bit slow.
"Nobody is hiring," says one emerging markets headhunter. "Sadly. Not this year. There is no growth story really. There is some quiet activity focused on future upgrading going on, and some opportunistic hires of people who are becoming 'available', by which I mean they can be hired for less money."
On the plus side, however, Russian banks are expected to resume hiring in 2012
Richard Hainsworth, CEO of Rusrating , a Moscow-based independent rating agency, told journalists recently that Russian banks are looking in fairly good shape.
"Banks tend to cut jobs from those markets that are losing money or are predicted to lose money and they tend to retain or even increase in markets that are making profits," Hainsworth said. "The current indications show that profits in the Russian banking industry are increasing, so it's unlikely that there will be job cuts. Probably the most that would happen is a hiring freeze."
