Recruitment efforts cool as international banks grow cautious

Asia – The drop in total job advertisements posted by 9% to 214,999 in the second quarter of 2008 suggests a more cautious approach to hiring by a number of international banks, says job index.

According to the newly launched Robert Walters Asia Job Index, which tracks recruitment advertisement volumes across the leading job boards and national newspapers, the slip in jobs advertised has been worsen by the merging of several banks and by the current financial turmoil in the USA.

Despite the slide, Robert Walters managing director for Singapore, Mark Ellwood, said that “recruitment activity across the market remains steady, with a particularly strong demand for sales professionals”.

Banks serving local and SME markets, which are less exposed to sub-prime lending and broader international tightening credit, are also actively recruiting.

On the other hand, the volume of recruitment advertisement in Hong Kong has risen 3% to 474,308, the second successive quarterly rise. Robert Walters attributes the relative resilience of Hong Kong's employment market to the country's strong links to the mainland Chinese economy, which is expect to continue growing at over 10% this year.