Since the financial crisis began in 2008, executive recruitment has bounced back both in the US and globally, according to several international recruitment firms.
The financial sector in particular is experiencing its highest percentage of executive recruitment, specifically in financial services such as asset management, fixed income, and especially risk management and compliance.
“Recruiting in the financial sector has seen ebbs and flows, but fixed income is coming back,” says Peter Felix, president of the Association of Executive Search Consultants.
“M&A was not strong [in the past two years] but is much stronger now, and asset management is extremely strong.” As for positions in the derivatives market – “they’re gone”, says Mr Felix.
While in 2009 the bulk of executive recruitment, most notably in the financial sector, was extremely slow, it did not take long to recover.
In 2010 the recruitment industry returned to near its rates from early 2008, which were the highest to date. In 2011, large executive search firms such as Korn/Ferry International and Russell Reynolds Associates have seen even higher revenue.