BY KOH HUI THENG

JOBSEEKERS can look forward to more openings in banking and finance, as bosses ramp up hiring next year. The positive outlook comes on the back of more demand and an improving credit outlook.

For instance, ANZ Singapore chief executive Bill Foo said that the bank had doubled staff strength from 350 to 700. With the economy picking up, it expects headcount to grow to 1,500 after the Monetary Authority of Singapore approves its buyover of ABN Amro from the troubled Royal Bank of Scotland.

DBS also intends to employ more people in the next 12 months.

Saying he was "quite bullish" about recruitment, DBS group chief executive Piyush Gupta added: "Previously, those in the industry tightened recruitment because demand in trade finance and investment management shrank.

"The credit outlook is improving and we expect wealth management to take off in the Singapore market."

OCBC Bank is in a similar expansion mode.

Executive vice-president and head of global treasury Lam Kun Kin said growth will take place across all levels, in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

Besides converting last year's graduates, many of whom are on temporary contracts, into permanent staff, it also prizes mid-career hires from unrelated industries for their experience.

All three head honchos, and Lion Global Investors chief executive and chief information officer Daniel Chan, were speaking at yesterday's dialogue session with industry leaders, held at the Singapore Management University Financial Training Institute's graduation ceremony.

Telling new graduates that broad-based experience was valuable, Mr Gupta cited his own history.

With an MBA in general marketing, the Indian national "stumbled into banking". Over 28 years, he took on 21 different roles, from operations and technology to human resource and trading.

Unlike successful traders, who mostly worked in corporate lending and finance, his stints in small branches exposed him to the front, middle and back-end operations.

"It's not sexy or glamorous, but it helped me connect the dots and understand how things really work," he said. The next decade may well be "the Pacific century", so the ability to understand how people operate in different cultures is key.

Previous CV-boosting experience in financial hubs like London and New York are likely to become less important.

"We're looking for people with the capacity to do different things. That means hiring for a career and not for a job."

The banking world will see new trends, including increased wealth creation in Asia. Globalisation will also lead to large capital flows across borders and greater leverage on technology to drive job creation.

Asked what he would be if he was not in banking, Mr Gupta said: "Until last week, I would have told you I wanted to be Tiger Woods."

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