Heroes turn zeroes in finance industry

Suddenly, there is a change in script after the global meltdown in the financial services sector, and the most precious heads now feel unwanted or redundant, say industry officials.

Suddenly, there is a change in script after the global meltdown in the financial services sector, and the most precious heads now feel unwanted or redundant, say industry officials.

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Human resource managers charged with retaining talent are now facing a new problem altogether. In fact, just a year ago, senior executives in the financial sector were quitting to feed their growth ambitions. Now, they should be happy to stay where they are.

“A number of senior level officials quit their respective organisations in the last couple of years, as they realised that there was no career growth for them,” an executive who quit Citibank told HT.

Industry sources say Citigroup, American Express and other hot names in the sector are the ones currently in the throes of layoffs and belt-tightening measures.

“There is no adequate role for all top-level exectuives and often the HR is in a dilemma with job roles,” a senior official at a foreign bank said. Another official engaged with a foreign bank said that organisational structures needed to be changed in order to make it more sustainable. In addition, there would be a “correction” in pay packages as well.

Variable pay packages are set to come down significantly.