The financial crisis is affecting us all – read below Mona Yim’s speech at the Queensland University at the graduation of 2008 Hong Kong MBA class on how Asian Career is tackling the situation.
Mona Yim is Executive Director at Asian Career Company Ltd.
Queensland University Presentation
Good evening, honorable members of the faculty, Mr. Xtven Ng, Mr. K. O. Chia, Mr. Andrew MacIntosh, Queensland University alumni and fellow graduates:
Introduction
In the first quarter of 2008, Asian Career celebrated the successful placement of the first ever senior private banker in Macau, the former Portuguese enclave. In the second quarter, we were busy persuading candidates to switch their jobs for a 20 to 30% increment in pay. In the third quarter, a leading bank decided a few minutes before concluding the employment contract not to hire a senior private banker of ours. The pendulum swung to the other side!
Present Situation
Recruitment activities have changed drastically from “growth-centric” to “necessity-oriented” and banks are now able to cherry pick good candidates from a vast pool of unsolicited resumes.
All major banks have announced job cuts, especially their investment banking arm, while headhunters are busy entertaining high profile candidates, who were not easily accessible a few months ago.
The US-led global rescue pact, in my opinion, is by no means a quick fix to the problem. Further market correction is inevitable and there will definitely be a strong domino effect spreading throughout major world markets and across most industries.
China
Correctly pointed out by Wen Jiabao, Premier of China - domestic stability of the finance sector will be China’s contribution to tackling the global financial crisis. Active macroeconomic measures: fiscal, monetary as well as other policy directives will be in place to ensure continuous growth.
However, the decade long continuous growth of the world’s largest emerging market is not without problems. Volatile performance of the stock and real estate markets, insufficient natural resources, gross inequality of income between country side and inner cities as well as severe quality problems of her output are all imminent problems to tackle.
Trade Relationships: Australia, Hong Kong, China
Bi-lateral trade between Australia and China is always on the growing path. By end of 2007, Australian export to China had a record high of A$22,800 million. If we include Hong Kong and Taiwan, the figure grows to around A$31,500 million compared to about A$31,800 million for Japan. So the Greater China region is definitely an important market for Australian business.
The relationship between Hong Kong and China has also changed gradually. After almost three decades of experimenting Deng’s Open Door Policy, the Special Administrative Region is in the process of redefining its core competence. And today, Hong Kong has to face the challenge not only from its old rival Singapore, but also other neighboring metropolis such as Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The Road Ahead
Amidst the financial turmoil, liquidity is well expected to be tightened and inevitably this will adversely affect the whole array of businesses, especially, the private sector. As expressed in his policy speech, Donald Tsang, the Chief Executive, said that the worst is yet to come and Hong Kong should be cautious about the risk of global recession.
Concerning the job market, number of new hires will definitely slow down and apart from banking, other sectors that have been expanding aggressively in the past few years will also suffer. These included retailing, real estate, and export trade as well as hospitality sectors.
In order to survive, organizations need to thoroughly review their business strategies under the impending external unfavorable circumstances. A stringent examination of the cash flow management and maintaining a motivated workforce are the keys to survive in the uncharted turbulent sea.
Asian Career is facing these challenges just like everyone else, and is devoted to strategically support and develop the capacities of our clients during these times – so that eventually, when the economy turns back positive, our clients will be even stronger than before. We are together swinging the pendulum back again!
Conclusion
Like what Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Irrespective of the current difficulties, management under adverse market circumstances and restricted resources will definitely sharpen our skills. As a business leader, executives are expected to demonstrate their ability to apply different business tools in problem solving. Your ability to conceptualize complex market information and derive practical and speedy tactics is of crucial importance.
Today, we gather together to celebrate the graduation of 2008 Hong Kong MBA class of the Queensland University. I hope that we can effectively apply what we have learnt in the business school in the organizations we are serving, with the objective of fostering a resilient business that can ride through the current turbulence and get ready for the next economic uptick.
