HK
Do Asia’s local banks need expats to save them?
14 December 2007
As Asia booms, local banks are becoming increasingly reliant on overseas talent.
Wang Dongming, chairman of Citic Securities, China’s largest securities firm by market capitalisation, recently told the Financial Times he wanted to avoid what he saw as the missed opportunities of the big Japanese securities firms. According to Wang, Japanese banks failed in part due to their reluctance to hire enough non-Japanese staff to become global players.
Local banks in Singapore seem at no risk of repeating that mistake. According to Craig Brewer, manager of banking operations at Robert Walters Singapore, many are already very willing to hire foreigners, with India, the UK and Australia top of the list.
“Foreign workers account for up to 30% of some banks’ total staff, with the majority employed on local terms,” says Brewer.
Rampant poaching and high staff turnover have encouraged Singapore’s banks to embrace the world at large – Brewer says turnover rates reached as high as 20% at some banks this year.
However, the biggest catch seems to be experienced local staff who have been trained extensively overseas. Dana Lim, principal consultant at Charterhouse Partnership in Singapore, says Singaporeans with overseas experience are typically favoured: “…adapting into local cultures, pay structures and policy is considerably smoother,” she says.
Why hire expats when experienced locals can do the job equally competently? A good number of expats I've seen tend to have an air of superiority in them (perhaps my bad experience).
Mack 21 Dec 2007
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