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Banks are Outsourcing Jobs....To Temps
 

Yuriy A's picture
AM
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 8:30pm
temp

One of the things that I noticed while working at a BB during 2011-2012 is that although there were still full time hires from campus recruiting, their numbers were gradually diminishing while the amount of temporary contract workers was increasing.

There has been media coverage regarding this trend. But it mostly mentioned BO/MO staff as well as some FO positions that were more of a support role. My experience is also from a BO/MO perspective so unfortunately I cannot comment on what was going on within the business side.

It seems to me that during these times of cost cutting, especially when it comes to support staff, temporary employment makes very good sense. A lot of support staff work is dependent on volumes, so when trading/deal activity is high it makes perfect sense to hire temps so that when the volume starts to subside it is easier to let those employees know that their services are no longer needed, rather than firing a full time employee and taking away all their benefits and everything else they rely on to support themselves or their family.

I would imagine that front office positions are not as easily able to fill their ranks with temps when volume is high as for an FO employee the specialized skill sets needed, are not as easily available from temp agencies as a BO/MO role would require. Perhaps some of the folks from the FO side of things can comment here on what trends they have seen lately as far as temps are concerned, would be interesting to see how other departments are affected by this.

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Comments

West Coast rainmaker's picture

I knew F500s were doing this,

ER
(Neanderthal, 2,071
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 8:40am

I knew F500s were doing this, but that banks are too is news. I would have thought some sort of compliance issue would crop up, but I guess not.

I am actually thinking of buying stock in a few of these companies (eg Insperity (NSP)) . It makes sense; the one cost synergy that you can actually count on is reduced administrative costs.

Anomanderis's picture

Yeah, where at work, any

ST
(Orangutan, 357
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 11:23am

Yeah, where at work, any resignation is currently being filled by temps and offshore workers. I think this sort of behavior tends to happen when things slow down and companies don't want to make long term commitments. If the volume stays high for long, and the outlook looks brighter, then most of the temps may get re-absorbed. Companies are simply moving risk from the companies to the individuals.

But Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought bravely.

And Rhaegar died.

Yuriy A's picture

Anomanderis: Yeah, where at

AM
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 12:06pm
Anomanderis:

Yeah, where at work, any resignation is currently being filled by temps and offshore workers. I think this sort of behavior tends to happen when things slow down and companies don't want to make long term commitments. If the volume stays high for long, and the outlook looks brighter, then most of the temps may get re-absorbed. Companies are simply moving risk from the companies to the individuals.

Thanks for this, would you mind elaborating on what type of a business unit or division you have seen this in?

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Anomanderis's picture

Yuriy A: Anomanderis: Yeah,

ST
(Orangutan, 357
 
Points)
 on 7/19/12 at 12:57pm
Yuriy A:
Anomanderis:

Yeah, where at work, any resignation is currently being filled by temps and offshore workers. I think this sort of behavior tends to happen when things slow down and companies don't want to make long term commitments. If the volume stays high for long, and the outlook looks brighter, then most of the temps may get re-absorbed. Companies are simply moving risk from the companies to the individuals.

Thanks for this, would you mind elaborating on what type of a business unit or division you have seen this in?

I work in FO, those ALL stay in-house, local and permanent. However I am aware that some of the M/O, B/O and controller functionalities are currently being serviced by temps (under the watchful eyes of a permie of course). Same as some IT and quant-ish work. It's a quick way to get Headcount when there's a hiring freeze in place.

But Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought bravely.

And Rhaegar died.

UFOinsider's picture

Anomanderis: Companies are

O
(Human, 10,302
 
Points)
 on 7/20/12 at 10:08am
Anomanderis:

Companies are simply moving risk from the companies to the individuals.

They're also moving the responsibility and cost (see: benefits and ability to committ to rent contracts etc) onto them, so at some point people just quit. When people realize that they're unlikely / never going to be treated well, they literally stop caring all together and look for other options...and often drop a bomb on the way out the door. My firm has been hiring temps from BBs because they do the training for us and the kids are happy to just have a job...even if it isn't at the goldman stanley. They're also working better than new hires out of school because they understand the value of what we offer: stability. Well, stable as far as finance goes.

IT / MO / BO / research / even some FO jobs are seeing this. The client facing roles and direct support areas HAVE to be on site, but everything else is up for grabs.

YOU JUST GOT TROLLED
http://www.troll.me/images/red-foreman322/dont-you...

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