GCC banks, private equity firms resume hiring - report

HIRING TIME: Banks and private equity firms have started to hire staff again, it was reported on Sunday. (Getty Images)

Banks and equity firms in the GCC have reportedly started to hire staff again but some salaries on offer are up to 30 percent lower than six months ago.

Head hunters are reporting the first signs of hiring since the economic crisis hit the Gulf last autumn, UAE daily The National reported on Sunday.

The Dubai-based recruitment firm IQ Selection, part of the global Premier Group, told the paper that inquiries from potential employers have increased by about 60 percent in the past month.

“We’re seeing hiring happening mainly in the front office for private equity and investment banking capital markets,” Jonathan Gould, a financial services consultant at the recruitment firm, told the paper.

“Before, the hiring market was a shut shop, with redundancies and rate cuts. Now, firms are coming to us with live vacancies and wanting us to supply them with talent.”

Arqaam Capital, an investment bank in Dubai, said it had seen a flood of interest from candidates looking to come to the region from abroad, mainly London and New York.

Marc Hoodless, the bank’s managing director of human resources, said it was now common for people to take positions where compensation was up to 30 percent less, and in some cases even lower, than it was for the same position six months ago.

Jack Montgomery, a senior consultant at Stanton Chase International, told the paper the private equity sector was now seeing the most demand for new recruits within the financial services world.

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