> Business/Financial Desk; SECTB > Abruptly, Expatriate Bankers Are Cut Loose > By KEITH BRADSHER and JULIA WERDIGIER; Keith Bradsher reported from > Singapore and Hong Kong, and Julia Werdigier from London. Bettina > Wassener contributed reporting from Hong Kong. > 5 March 2009 The New York Times > > SINGAPORE -- Losing your job anywhere is disorienting, but imagine > being laid off when you work in a foreign country. Not only is your > source of income, and perhaps a good part of your identity, suddenly > yanked away, but often you lose your right to remain in the country. > Add to that urgent disruption the calamity of a collapsing industry > and you have the life more or less of thousands of American > expatriates in banking and finance. > The archetype of the young international banker cut one of the most > dashing figures of the age of globalization. Well-educated and > well-connected, able to take their pick of jobs, they skipped across > employers like they did countries for weekend getaways. > As recently as last fall, financial professionals who lost their jobs > as Wall Street bled could hope for new positions overseas. But layoffs > have spread quickly from New York to Europe and now to the Mideast and > Asia, leaving a growing number of jobless expats, as they are known, > with few places to turn and either stranded or forced to return home. > A rhyming refrain among laid-off bankers a few months ago -- ''Try > Dubai, Mumbai and Shanghai'' -- now seems hopelessly dated. Financial > markets in all three cities have crashed. > Also out of date, the acronym ''filth,'' which long stood for ''Failed > in London? Try Hong Kong.'' Many American and European investment > banks have been trimming staff in Hong Kong as well. About 325,000 > financial services jobs have been cut worldwide since August 2007, > according to the International Labor Organization. Many banks have > reduced bonuses by as much as 80 percent or cut them completely. > Because times were so good -- during all or almost all of many of > their careers -- the weight of the current malaise is that much > greater. The layoffs are affecting local bankers for multinationals as > well as expats. > ''I didn't think it was possible,'' said Marco Wong, a Singaporean who > speaks both Chinese and English and has a master's degree in wealth > management. He was laid off from Citibank in January, just months > after being courted by recruiters from Citibank, HSBC and Credit > Suisse. ''It was quite shocking,'' he said. > While there are no reliable figures on the number of expatriate > bankers who have been laid off, the cuts have been widespread. Even in > the Middle East, where banks like Merrill Lynch and Citibank had hired > dozens of investment bankers late last year to build large offices, > expats are having to pack their bags. > How these newly unemployed will fare will depend on a combination of > personal and family resources, networks and that intangible factor, > resilience. > Asia was one of the last places to be affected by layoffs. Most > economies here remained strong until exports began to plunge late last > year and investor confidence crumbled. Big financial institutions like > Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and others have each > laid off more than 100 employees in Asia this winter. > More layoffs are likely. ''When you need to reduce costs quickly, you > just take out 10 percent and that's it, boom,'' said one investment > bank official who asked for anonymity because the subject was > delicate. > Now some Hong Kong landlords are demanding three months' security from > bankers instead of the usual two, because of the risk the prospective > tenants may be laid off. Since business is so slow, financial sector > recruiters have begun scheduling long vacations. > Local banks in Asia, unlike European banks, have had fewer layoffs as > a percentage of total employment because they largely avoided buying > American securities in the last few years. But they have never > employed large numbers of expatriates. > Many expats return home after losing their jobs. Some, seeing the > writing on the wall, are even walking away from high-paying, > high-pressure jobs. > When David Flynn, for example, moved to London from Australia four > years ago, he loved being part of a bustling financial center ripe > with career opportunities and fat bonuses. But as the recession set > in, the excitement and work ebbed, and Mr. Flynn, 28, left his job at > Union Bancaire Privee at the end of last year and moved back to Perth. > Now he uses his overseas experience to advise clients on investments. > ''I thought I could either sit in London and sit through this downturn > or go back and live on my own terms,'' Mr. Flynn said. ''London is a > great place, but if you don't have the money to enjoy all the things > that are good, you struggle.'' > For bankers still trying to cling to their overseas perches, career > counselors are generally telling them not to move, and to use their > networks to look for jobs locally instead of sending resumes halfway > around the world. > ''Stay put,'' said Paul Heng, the managing director of Next Career > Consulting Group Asia, in Singapore. ''I don't think there is a refuge > anywhere in this world,'' he said. > In Asia, many of those losing their jobs seem to be following Mr. > Heng's advice for now. James E. Thompson, the chairman of Crown > Worldwide Group, a large Hong Kong-based mover catering to > expatriates, said there was no sign of an exodus. > London is different. Sandra Johnson, president of the Kensington and > Chelsea Women's Club in London, which provides social networking > opportunities for Americans in London, said many families were leaving > and fewer arriving. Membership in the club has dropped 10 percent from > two years ago, to 1,100. > ''It's really difficult,'' said Ms. Johnson, who moved to London with > her family from Westchester County near New York City more than four > years ago. ''Some people just try to make it until the end of the > year.'' > Mr. Heng, the career consultant, said that he was encouraging some > high-fliers to consider completely new careers. He cited a chief > information officer of a technology company who just found a job he > loves as a high school teacher. The pay is a lot lower, he said, but > the job security is hard to beat. > ================================================= >
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