----- Original Message ----- From: Sujit Panvongpaiboon To: 05-Surangkana ; 01-Thitipan Jitnapapan Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 10:11 AM Subject: MBA'S SLICE LOW
MBAs set their sights lower SOMRUEDI BANCHONGDUANG Today's MBA students certainly are monitoring the headlines closely as every day brings more warnings of rising unemployment, slowing growth and job layoffs. As Thailand and the globe struggle with the financial storm, prospects for lucrative positions at leading international banks, brokers or consultancies are narrowing. Local banks, however, say they are still recruiting for 2009, as their balance sheets are mostly clean of the toxic investments that have sunk their larger US and European peers. But the job environment today is tougher than that of a year ago, and recent graduates with jobs in the financial sector can count their blessings. Take Ruthaiwan Laohaviriyanont, a relationship officer at Bangkok Bank. She joined the country's largest bank less than a year after completing her MBA from Missouri State University in the United States. Mrs Ruthaiwan, who works in the lending department for medium-sized provincial companies, had hoped to work in the securities field after graduate school. As a political science undergraduate, she said she was encouraged to pursue an MBA with a focus on finance after attending a seminar at the Stock Exchange of Thailand. "It's good fortune that I got a job before the economic downturn. If I were applying now, there would be higher risk of unemployment. And it may be just my good luck to work with a bank rather than a brokerage firm," she said. Kemakorn Wongharichaop, however, is in a different position. Now completing her studies at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, she plans to return home to Thailand this month. "I'm quite worried about being out of work when I return to Thailand due to the bad economic situation," she says. "I heard that several large companies have no plans to recruit new employees because of the need to tighten expenses, and staff turnover has dropped." Mrs Kemakorn said she had sent applications to local and multinational firms in Thailand, in the hope of getting a job in corporate finance. An accounting major at Chulalongkorn University, the 27-year-old worked for a US-based audit company for five years before deciding to study further abroad. Mrs Kemakorn said the job itself was more important to her than the compensation. "I have an expected salary in mind. But frankly, you take what you can get in a poor economy such as this." Local MBA student Rattana Thongsuk, 25, also admits to job worries. She will graduate from Sripatum University in March, and is concerned that her lack of practical work experience might place her at a disadvantage. "I think that with a master's degree, I might actually face greater competition than if I just sought a position focusing on applicants with only a bachelor's. I might just list my bachelor's degree for some applications," she said. New MBA students, particularly those specialising in finance, can take heart that leading Thai banks are actually ramping up hiring because they see opportunities for growth as foreign banks scale back international operations. Duenpen Pawakranond, a senior vice-president for human resources at Kasikornbank, said the bank planned to hire 5,000 new employees in 2009, double the new hiring this year. The country's fourth-largest bank wants 2,000 new staff for its planned 100-branch expansion for 2009. Another 3,000 will be allocated to different departments, including business strategy, product development, IT and back-office. Mrs Duenpen said the bank wanted both new graduates and experienced professionals, primarily people with backgrounds in banking, finance, accounting or IT. "People with talent and skills in finance and banking should not worry about unemployment. Market demand in the field remains good, even with the slowing economy," she said. "Actually, I think the manufacturing and export sector might face greater risks of unemployment than the financial sector."
