By Kate Lim

CIMB-GK Securities is taking advantage of a government job subsidy scheme to hire about 40 fresh graduates amid a gloomy period for financial services.

The graduates will be employed in equity sales and research and compliance, and all applicants will get an on-the-spot interview.

A recruitment drive held at the brokerage's premises at Singapore Land Tower on Tuesday attracted 300 people.

The firm can boost its intake, thanks to the Financial Sector Development Fund (FSDF) set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The fund will subsidise salaries for 34 of the 40 positions up for grabs for the first year of employment.

CIMB chief executive Carol Fong told The Straits Times: 'Whatever comes out from here on will not be as bad as what we have experienced before...the worst is definitely over.'

She said recruiting fresh graduates is part and parcel of the firm's effort to grow in a sustainable manner.

The age profile of existing brokers in the industry is getting increasingly older so CIMB is looking to bring in new blood by leveraging on the FSDF, she added.

Brokers tend to prefer professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) to fresh graduates, as they can be trained faster.

Ms Fong estimates that about $50,000 has to be invested in training each new graduate.

'If not for this scheme, we would have hired more PMETs,' she said.

CIMB is considering hiring even more graduates under the FSDF scheme in the future, pending approval from the MAS.

Graduates taken on in equity sales will undergo training with CIMB and start on a salary between $1,500 and $2,000.

Once they have completed the training and a probation period, they can expect to earn between $2,000 and $3,000 a month.

Salaries for research and compliance positions start at around $2,500.

The firm intends to hold a recruitment drive for PMETs to fill an additional 50 positions next month.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.