LET THE GOOD TIMES GO ON HOLD

THE HANDOVER of Hong Kong to the Chinese in July last year was just one more shindig to the 25,000 British expats in the former colony. One recruitment "expert" described the handover as a "non- event. Just an excuse for a world-class party."

The good times continued to roll: whopping salaries, free housing, weekends in Phuket, Filipino maids and dinners at the Mandarin Grill.

It didn't seem to matter that the Union Jack was to be lowered for the last time; business was booming, rents were rising and there was still a fortune to be made in the property market. No sooner had that great symbol of liberty and freedom, the Chinese flag, shimmied to the top of the pole than suddenly things weren't looking so rosy after all. Before the expats could say "anyone for tennis?", the IMF was running Asia, and Montserrat was beginning to resemble a comparatively stable environment. After the banks began to report their losses in the region, it became apparent that these mighty financial institutions would have been better off getting Nick Leeson in (well, out first) to run their Asian operations. The banks began looking a little more closely at their costs, realising that perhaps they didn't need those 50 accountants at GBP 100,000 each to figure out how much money they had lost, and that maybe their money would be better spent on a couple of "chainsaw consultants" - outside specialists in reducing employees' costs. With expats traditionally costing at least double that of local talent, and government policy favouring Hong Kong Chinese employees, guess who's first in line for the chop? Some institutions offered their hapless employees the same job but at a local package, so with the attendant loss of the prohibitively expensive housing and schooling (not to mention membership fees for the many exclusive clubs that form a necessary element of the all- important social scene), many expats simply couldn't afford to take their employers up on this "generous" offer. Hence great hordes of tanned bankers in tropical-weight suits began boarding the Supersonic Silk Road back to Heathrow and, clutching newly typed CVs, began haunting the lanes and back alleys of the City in an attempt to replicate the lifestyle they once enjoyed back in Honkers. Their timing could not have been worse, as with numerous financial institutions closing, merging, restructuring, renaming, downsizing or just plain going belly-up, a surge of qualified candidates has flooded the market. Of course, not all of this displaced multitude will be doomed to walk the damp streets of London for the rest of their lives. For those with solid qualifications and transferable skills, such as a background in accountancy or IT, a thriving job market awaits. Greg Myers, of City headhunters Elliot Ross, has been approached by a number of qualified candidates returning from the Far East. According to him, "the skills which are acquired in both the accounting and IT environments are not restricted geographically; therefore well-qualified individuals will always find a consistent demand for their skills". Myers goes on: "In particular, in the areas of financial control, risk management, and IT development, we are consistently able to arouse demand and in many cases facilitate a progressive career move for the individual." However, for those who have spent the last few years of their lives selling Asian equities, or analysing an esoteric market segment, or, even worse, specialising in the newly emerging Asian debt markets, such obscure experience has little relevance in the European markets. It will be difficult to compete effectively with individuals who have extensive experience in more conventional City territories. The good news is that the market in Asia is already showing signs of recovery and people expect some sort of return to normality within the year. It won't be the same as it was for a long time, but analysts predict that the market will probably resemble the late Eighties and early Nineties, when growth was less frenetic and built on more substantial foundations. - - -

Copyright 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.