Specialist jobs in Islamic banking among top jobs in finance
From The Star.
PETALING JAYA: Post-global financial crisis, some of the “hot” jobs in the financial services sector will consist of specialist positions in Islamic banking and finance, risk and credit management as well as financial analysis and management, say human resource and recruitment experts.
Those with regional financial experience will also be in high demand as domestic players begin to aggressively expand overseas.
Hay Group Sdn Bhd director Kala Kularajah foresees financial institutions strengthening their risk-management capabilities resulting in increased demand for specialists who can engage in “pre-emptive thinking” to help insulate them from any unintended consequences of business decisions.
She also anticipates a greater demand for talent with specialist skills, such as risk modelling and actuaries.
“There will be a significant shift from the quantity game to quality and a sharper focus on getting the ‘right talent’.
“As compensation budgets today form 50% to 70% of operating costs, domestic players will want to recruit talent that will contribute a higher return on investment,” she said.
Kelly Services (M) Sdn Bhd vice-president and country general manager Melissa Norman’s list of top job picks for the sector includes accountants, financial/investment analysts and finance managers, internal auditors, corporate credit risk heads and credit managers, Islamic finance specialists, compliance officers and marketing-oriented jobs, for example, head of charge/credit cards.
Norman, however, expects the job market in the financial services sector to continue to be soft through 2010 with employers taking a cautious and selective approach to hiring.
“There will be more emphasis on cost-control measures and performance-based incentives and benefits. The cautious approach adopted is viewed as a way to control and trim high salaries and bonus payouts,” she noted.
To JobStreet.com head of regional communications Simon Si, the challenge after the financial crisis would continue to be filling accounting, finance and banking positions in the Islamic banking and finance sector.
“There is a need to double the number of staff in this sector to 8,000 by 2012. Another fast growth sector which we need more trained staff is in takaful,” he stressed.
According to Si, there had been an almost 30% drop in jobs for the finance sector compared with last year.
“However, there are still jobs. Today, the JobStreet website has 1,000 positions in general cost accounting, 357 in banking and finance, 300 in audit/tax and 126 in finance/investment,” he said.
Talent2 International Ltd director (South Asia) Leigh Howard expects to see phenomenal hiring in the Malaysian financial sector after the global financial crisis.
“I think there will be broad demand across the board but many front office roles will return across the banking industry. Islamic banking remains one to watch, particularly if Malaysia can really capitalise on the headstart it has in the sector,” he said.
Howard foresees a return to the talent-short market the country experienced 12 months ago with candidates tempted with overseas opportunities.
Yes,Islamic banking has defied the reession and jobs in this sector are much sought-after.
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