eFinancialCareers

Just how easy is it for Western women bankers to land jobs in the growing financial centres of Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar? Not very, according to some headhunters, who weren't overly keen on being drawn on the subject. "This is too close to the bone," was a common response, although we were told by one London-based headhunter that he'd recently placed a woman and there had been "no issues". Scratch the surface,... Read more

Credit rating agencies are setting up offices in Dubai – but don’t expect them to start snapping up finance professionals just yet. Moody’s Investor Service has followed rival Fitch Ratings to establish a presence in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Moody’s will use its new office as a Middle East base to cover debt issuers in the region. Recruiters say the rating agencies will not have too much work to do until... Read more

Wall Street bankers are now paid on a par with colleagues in Asia, Dubai bankers saw the biggest pay increases in the last bonus round, and London’s bankers clearly came out on top. Top bankers in the UK received compensation increases ranging from 17% to 22%, according to the latest survey from financial services search firm Napier Scott. In the US, the average figure was 10% to 15%. By comparison, bankers... Read more

Dubai is doing its best to encourage banks to hire more nationals. It won't reduce demand for overseas talent, say recruiters. The Human Resources Development Committee for the financial sector says the programme, known as 'emiratisation', is intended to drive more than 200k United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationals into employment – with many of them going into the financial sector. The aim? To ensure half of roles are filled by local employees... Read more

How long are you planning to stay in your job? Dubai recruiters say staff with itchy feet are a real and growing problem. “A few professionals are now investing in short term staff due to the high turnover,” says one local mortgage broker. “In the last year alone, at least five of my colleagues have left.” Investment banks appear to be suffering a similar problem. Lehman Brothers chief Richard Fuld says 20%... Read more

The dollar might have hit new lows last month, but that’s not stopping Gulf employers hiring new staff from Europe. Companies need specific skills and if they have to pay more for them, that’s what they’ll do, recruiters say. The mighty dollar’s drop against the euro and sterling has left employers in the Gulf – where currencies are dollar-linked and pay agreed in dollar sums – forking out more to offer... Read more