Analyse employment trends

Which of the industries interests me?

The term banking and finance simply refers to a sector of the economy which provides consumers with financial services. This industry caught my eye because I enjoy the application of Mathematics and Business both in one. I am primarily interested in corporate financing, which simply consists of providing the funds for corporations. The fact that risks are involved and predicting profitability for shares prices also allows the adrenaline to be pumping which I like.

The jobs which I am currently interested in regardless of the current economic climate are stockbroker, accountant, equity analyst, basically any job field which allows me to carry out predictions and maximise an entity wealth. I tend to have good analytical and teamwork skills. To be able to enter the field of banking and finance you would have to embark on further/higher education studies and gain qualifications in the relevant field. The qualifications which are required are usually a university degree in the relevance field. E.g. Bsc Business Management and finance.

• Retail Banking
• Investment Banking/corporate banking
• Private Banking
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Actuarial
• Property Insurance
• Insurance Broking
• Underwriting
• Accountancy

The corporate banking sector of the banking and finance industry is a division which I am interested in. Corporate banking is the broad term given to different banking services that large companies, governments, or other big institutions need in order to function day to day. There are various responsibilities which have to be carried out which range from relatively simple such as issuing loans to more complex matters, such as helping to minimize taxes paid by overseas subsidiaries, managing the alteration in foreign exchange rates, or working out the full details of financing packages essential for the construction of a new office, plant and other relating facilities.

A few examples are Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, UBS and HSBC. UBS is a merging between the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and the Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) in June 1998. In 1998, SBC suffered from the long-term management crisis (), this led to the merging of both companies to survive. If I were to work in such a vigorous environment I would require certain skills such as analytical ability and statistical aptitude, strong communication skills, the ability to grow and maintain client relationships and the ambition and demonstrable drive and eagerness.

Decline in employment trends and analyzing graphs/charts:

As we can see from the graph aside (source: ), banking directors are the highest paid category in the banking industry according to the career times and national statistics. Currently in the news there as many various issues about limiting the amount bankers are getting paid and their bonuses. In my opinion, I believe that bankers should not be getting high bonuses and salaries, especially whilst the banks are currently in a recession.

Decline in Skills in the industry and analysing charts/graphs:

The skills required for the banking and finance sector are currently on a shortage as there are not enough graduates studying business related degrees. This means that less graduates are being employed meaning that less money is being injecting into the economy from their potential salaries. The government is currently advertising HE courses online, in specialist magazines and in recruitment agencies for potential graduates/school-leavers to go onto further studies. This concerns the government because if the Banking and Finance industry was to collapse completely the UK economy would collapse within seconds as the economy is depends upon the industry.  

The Pie chart () aside shows the number of people employed in each sector in 2009. As I can see from the pie chart, the manufacturing sector has the most percentage employed (22%). This could be due to less expertise needed, e.g. degrees or relevant skills, as most manufacturing companies provide training for individuals. The most decreased number of people employed is the hospitality section (0.5%), this may be due to less people spending less on going to hotels and holidays and saving their money due to the economic crisis. However, the main industry I am concerned about is the Banking, Finance and insurance industry because if I were to rank the pie chart in order of most employed the banking industry would come 5th, this could be due to less graduates studying relevant degrees to work in the Banking and Finance industry. However, all the industries in the pie chart rely on each other to operate and survive. If one industry was to disappear overnight, then the whole system would find it hard to cope, e.g. energy and water disappeared then there would not be any electricity to operate the computers and lighting.