Will Banks Re-Assess Their Hiring Needs This Quarter?

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Banks already have and they decided to cut asses to save money. 

I'm talking serious layoffs. RIFs, PIPs, HIVs, etc. They finna CUT ASS, son! 

At the risk of giving a "non-answer", banks and specific teams assess hiring needs continuously, but the biggest catalyst will be end of year numbers and new budgets for FY23. Candidly I'd be surprised if more than a handful of banks were looking to expand headcount but some of the smaller places might look to grow and take market during the dislocation is what I've heard. 

Outside of that you're looking at hiring at individual team levels, which could be for any number of reasons (unusually high deal flow for a team not staffed for it, replacement hiring for attrition, new vertical coverage, etc.)

Hard question. My bank was too conservative during covid and regretted that they didn't lend more. I think it will be very group specific. Some groups will do better than others in this environment. I can imagine M&A could potentially do well if a firm has ample cash, as many firms will probably be priced more attractively as the economy crumbles.

Lending might be tough. High interest rates and lower cash-flows can result in less demand for debt. Distressed debt / restructuring groups will probably be slammed.

Sounds like hiring has slowed down with a few hiring freezes across many banks. Likely more openings in the 2nd half of 2023, especially during summer when many analysts leave for buyside.

Considering dealflow is down 40%-60% at most banks, it would be surprising if there would be a strong hiring market

Bump

100%. Given the % decrease in fees in '22 as well as the overhiring which occurred in the last two years, banks will absolutely be re-assessing their hiring needs going forward. I strongly suspect most job openings will be a result of the regular attrition that banks face due to people leaving for other opportunities and will not be because of opening new roles within the org. The name of the game now for banks is to reduce their arguably inflated overhead at the moment at they won't take on anyone unless they see them as absolutely necessary.