Banks recruit staff to cope with economic u-turn

Two of the UK’s biggest banks are planning major recruitment drives to handle extra business created by the economic upturn, it was reported today.

Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays, is set to hire up to 1,600 people during the next year, boosting its staff levels by about 30%, the Sunday Express reported.

The bank s poised to take on up to 300 people in New York and further staff in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo, the report said.

Rival banking group HSBC is also proposing to increase its investment banking headcount, the report added.

Barclays Capital has offices in 21 countries and specialises in bonds, loans, foreign exchange, derivatives and commodities.

A spokesman for Barclays Capital declined to confirm the figure of 1,600.

But he said it was intending to increase its 5,700-strong headcount by a “significant number”.

The investment group has just made several key appointments in its real estate and sales operations in the US and is “constantly upgrading the workforce”, the spokesman said.

“It is fair to say there will be some hiring and upgrading in London,” he said.

HSBC, which last week reported a 37% rise in pre-tax profits in 2003 to £7.7bn (€11.4bn), is reportedly set to target star investment bankers, particularly in the US where it has had some mergers and acquisitions success.

The group’s chairman, Sir John Bond, said last week that prospects for economic growth and private sector employment were improving, particularly in the US and Hong Kong. No-one from HSBC was available to comment on today’s report.

The economic upturn and increased merger and takeover activity, particularly in the United States, is believed to be behind the revival in recruiting by City firms.

City headhunters say the recruitment market is hotting up across the board, reflecting increased confidence and buoyant financial markets, today’s report said.

“Everyone is back in hiring mode again,” the Express quoted one recruitment specialist as saying.