The nearshoring phenomenon
Active candidate market
As we head out of bonus season, the US hiring market is definitely seeing an increase in activity – as is typical for this time of year. As a hiring manager, it is an ideal time of year to land strong talent, as candidates are typically keen to explore opportunities during the spring, plus there is little complication around buying out bonuses that you see later in the year.
Market ebbs and flows
The hiring market in New York is slightly distorted as bulge bracket firms are generally – and for various different reasons – not hiring at the same volume that we have seen in previous years. With many firms diversifying away from prior business models, the last couple of years has seen hiring of new teams to service new or expanded business lines. Now that is largely done, many are taking a pause and most of their hiring is cover attrition.
Where we do see a deal of activity is within the next tier down – non-bulge bracket sell-side firms – who are busy building out teams and increasing regulatory coverage to galvanise their presence in the market place.
The buy-side is another space that continues to keep us busy with hiring needs in the various hubs around the US – New York, Greenwich, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Outside of New York, the regulatory space is buoyant and there are many firms in the other FS hubs mentioned above, plus others, who are building out their Compliance, Risk, and Legal teams.
Nearshoring Phenomenon
Most notably, the nearshoring trend we first flagged nearly a year ago in our article; Hiring in the Americas – compliance decentralisation or an industry developing, has developed even further and become somewhat of an extended financial hubs phenomenon. Most of the biggest names in financial services now have established presences in near-shore hubs all over the US, whether it be Jacksonville FL, Salt Lake City UT, Buffalo NY, Plano TX, or Whippany NY, the trend is going strong.
What began as an operation to move largely back office support functions to lower cost centers outside of New York has broadened to include various areas of compliance, with some firms even moving business-facing roles to these near-shore hubs. While this creates cost savings for the firms and a buoyant hiring market across the country, not everyone is willing to relocate and finding the right talent in these new hubs can be challenging for hiring managers down the line.
As these near-shore hubs often have no pre-existing talent pool for the financial services firms that move to them, many of our clients are turning to us to help build out their teams. This is where the strength of our unique, far-reaching network, and market knowledge is extremely advantageous. We either already know strong talent in these locations, or are able to identify it quickly through our contacts. We are also able to tap into talent in other geographical locations and approach the individuals who would relocate.
If you would like our support in building out your team please get in touch.
