Wall Street's biggest hiring trends: what insiders and recruiters are saying

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Wall Street's biggest hiring trends: what insiders and recruiters are saying
Wall Street recruiters have had a busy 2021. Getty Images
  • Recruiters have been busy making hires in hot areas like healthcare-focused investment banking.
  • Traders have also been on the move after a massive year of revenue hauls.
  • From trading to investment banking, these are the biggest hiring trends on Wall Street.
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Insider has been tracking Wall Street hiring and talking with recruiters and insiders about the biggest trends.

Top healthcare bankers are in high demand, with one recruiter describing search requests from clients as being "extremely, extremely active." Banks are racing to lateral hire more analysts. And credit traders are locking in guaranteed pay at new gigs after putting up a big year.

From junior investment banking talent to senior dealmakers and traders, here are the spaces to watch - and who's been on the move recently.


Wall Street banks can't get enough junior talent

Wall Street's biggest hiring trends: what insiders and recruiters are saying
Banks are racing to find junior workers to staff deals. Samantha Lee/Insider

Investment banks are struggling with massive workloads and a shortage of junior bankers. Now, banks are battling for lateral hires and senior bankers are having to step in to do work less experienced bankers normally handle.

Kim Freehill, a senior partner at New York-based recruiting firm FSJ Partners, which works on behalf of middle-market investment banks, told Insider she's never been so swamped with inquiries from clients.

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Banks are desperate to score more analysts and associates to help with mountains of deal work.

"My workload is enormous right now," Freehill said, adding that she's been pulling 12-hour days screening candidates by phone.

"I don't know who's left," she said. "Three out of five calls I make, they've already been contacted."

Read the full story here:

Investment banking's labor crunch: A junior banker shortage is forcing rainmakers to do grunt work and firms are lowering the bar for new hires


Credit trader hiring is red hot

Wall Street's biggest hiring trends: what insiders and recruiters are saying
Stellar 2020 performance and pent-up hiring demand from the pandemic is spurring credit hiring activity. Shutterstock

Credit was one of the strongest performers across trading desks last year, as intervention from the Federal Reserve, wide movements in spreads, and an onslaught of debt issuance spurred client activity.

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Traders have plenty of motivation to entertain offers now. Even if they received great compensation this year, performance will almost certainly drop compared with a frothy 2020. So rather than wait around for a smaller bonus, some see the logic of locking in a juicy guarantee while demand is hot, according to senior headhunters.

"They had ridiculously high revenue last year, and it's not going to match this year," one senior fixed-income recruiter said. "They're capitalizing on big comp numbers."

Read the full story here:

Banks are paying up for credit traders in a wild poaching war. Search our database of 45 names and the firms doing the most hiring.


Healthcare bankers are in high demand

Wall Street's biggest hiring trends: what insiders and recruiters are saying
Healthcare bankers are in high demand on Wall Street. krisanapong detraphiphat/ Getty Images

Charles Anderson, who leads Heidrick & Struggles' corporate- and investment-banking recruiting business, in May described the demand from clients for healthcare searches as being "extremely, extremely active."

Much of the momentum has been driven by demand for specialists who can help companies at the intersection of healthcare and other tech verticals, such as payment technology.

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Read the full story here:

Healthcare bankers are in high demand in an 'extremely, extremely active' hiring market. Here's a rundown of 18 dealmaker moves.


Credit Suisse traders and bankers are jumping ship - here's where they're going

Wall Street's biggest hiring trends: what insiders and recruiters are saying
Credit Suisse has lost several top dealmakers. Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters; Skye Gould/Insider

Nearly 50 senior employees have parted ways with Credit Suisse during recent months, according to hiring announcements by other banks, a review of reported exits, and people familiar with the moves.

Read the full story here:

Credit Suisse has lost more than 45 execs, bankers, and traders after a string of scandals. Here's a list of names and where they're heading.


And check out our recruiter databases for the top headhunters across fintech, banking, trading, private equity, and more:

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