GUEST COMMENT: I can't tell you how many dinner parties I've been to where people tell me I work in a declining industry

If you pick up a newspaper in the UK or US, you’d be forgiven for thinking that bankers are currently a bit of a social pariah. Barely a week goes by without one headline talking about excesses in the sector, and finger pointing about the recent crises continues (perhaps justifiably).

You will not see the same sort of coverage in the MENA region – largely because of wide-spread censorship of the media and vague laws about what constitutes defamation of character – but, believe me, bankers here are also being vilified.

The widespread view here is that the crisis of 2008, and the more recent Eurozone problems, is the result of Western financial institutions and the system of deregulation that allowed the financial sector to go unchecked for so long. However, there’s still a fundamental distrust of financial sector workers here.

Distrust of bankers in the MENA region can be attributed, to some extent at least, to the overriding religious culture here. Prophet Mohammed banned usury and Jesus kicked out money changers from the temple, after all. But the recent financial crisis has exacerbated these feelings and the “intangible” financial industry is being increasingly demonised.

There’s a greater focus on encouraging more nationals into the private sector, and the financial industry is competing well in this regard, but there’s an increasing tendency for households here to encourage their children to look outside the financial sector. I can’t tell you how many dinner parties I’ve been to where people keep telling me that I work in a declining industry.

They have a point – doing business here is becoming increasingly difficult. There’s so much bad news around at the moment – from the European debt crisis to the Arab Spring – that investors have become much more risk averse. Sales-driven roles in areas like wealth management are becoming much more challenging, while the ongoing slump in investment banking deals is causing a lot of problems.

Add to that regulatory constraints; one notable example being the UAE Central Bank’s ban on marketing structured products, which requires all institutions operating in the country to seek pre-clearance of the products prior to distribution. All it took was a complaint from influential investors who felt misguided about what they were sold.

If you want to work in finance these days, it’s best to develop a thick skin, but I believe that the industry has yet to lose its appeal. There are a relentless number of applicants looking to undertake MBAs or the CFA qualification in order to gain a foothold in the industry. Bonuses are undoubtedly smaller, but salaries have been increased and the compensation here is tax free, which means it’s still among the highest paying sectors.

Redundancies have become more prolific (you could blame the higher salaries and subsequent inflexibility of staff costs on this), but let me tell you something – the vast majority of people laid off here simply apply for a new role. Some have been lost to industry or management consultancy, but they remain in the minority.

Banker bashing is back, but to many in the industry it’s just a case of history repeating itself. Whether it’s the Great Depression of the 1930s, or the junk bond boom and bust of the 1980s, bankers frequently become the target of a public witch hunt. This is more subtle in the MENA region, but still obvious to industry professionals. My view, however, is that the financial sector is integral for the continued growth of the Middle East, so people need to ensure the right talent will stick around.

The author is a vice-president in an international bank in Dubai