Recruiters in Hong Kong and Singapore have spotted a surge in enquires from London-based banking professionals wanting to relocate to Asia in the final run-up to the UK leaving the European Union. But these candidates face a big problem: banks don’t plan to shift jobs to Asia because of Brexit.
The fact that Brexit isn’t opening up additional jobs in Singapore and Hong Kong, isn’t the only challenge facing finance professionals now wanting to escape Britain for Asia. Expats are generally finding it harder to land work in Singapore because of a recent tightening up of the country's Employment Pass rules.
In Hong Kong, meanwhile, the private banking sector is booming, but parachuting in people from London (unless they’re Asian) isn’t the answer to the industry’s chronic talent shortages. Wealth managers in Hong Kong – from UBS to UBP – are increasingly competing to manage the offshore assets of rich Chinese clients, so they want to hire relationship managers who speak Mandarin.
There is one broad job function within Asian banking which may welcome Londoners who have the Brexit jitters: technology. “But this demand for foreign talent is due to an existing local need for specialist skills in particular areas – virtual and digital banking in Hong Kong, for example – rather than because Brexit is causing tech jobs to be relocated,” says Nick Lambe, Managing Director, Space Executive.
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