China’s move on Wednesday to cut bank reserve requirements was primarily designed to inject more liquidity into the economy and ward off a slowdown. But it may also be a boon for banking jobs in China.
The reduction of 50 basis points would free up at least 600bn yuan ($96bn) held in reserve at Chinese banks and comes after China reported its lowest annual growth rate in a quarter century.
Chinese banks will now be keen to lend more money to companies and consumers, but they will also need to ensure they have enough staff to handle any uptick in lending. This could be a particular problem in corporate banking, where banks already face a chronic talent shortage of relationship managers. “If Chinese corporates do take advantage of these new measures, corporate bankers will be more in demand this year that they would otherwise have expected,” says a Shanghai-based recruiter.
Two employment reports released by recruiters Michael Page and Morgan McKinley respectively in the past week suggest that China’s financial-services job market remained tight and prone to salary inflation, even before the reserve requirement announcement. “The outlook for 2015 shows there is steady growth in the labour market across the region,” says Anthony Thompson, regional managing director of Michael Page Greater China. “With rising salaries and a talent shortage, employees will be the winners on the labour market in the coming year.”
Meanwhile:
The former vice president of Agricultural Bank of China has been jailed for life for accepting more than $4.80m in bribes as China’s anti-corruption drive continues to target the banking sector. (Today)
Barclays has appointed Jack Yee as head of blocks origination for Asia Pacific. (Finance Asia)
J.P. Morgan has suspended two senior foreign-exchange salespeople because of client-related expenses. (Bloomberg)
Indonesia plans Islamic banking merger. (Business Time)
The number-one IT security fear for banks: rogue employees. (New York Times)
Nearly 25% of graduating MBAs are going into consulting, with just 19% taking jobs in banking. (Bloomberg)
Japan tries to force employees to take more holidays. (Channel News Asia)