I interviewed someone yesterday. He's a lawyer in London. Until recently, he was employed by Lehman Brothers. Or maybe he officially still is, but I think his salary no longer arrives.The candidate has seven years of working experience more than me. That makes him very senior. His stated expected salary, however, was quite low (lower than mine). I sensed a little desperation. He's very eager to grab his wife and kids and get out of London (now populated with unemployed ex-bank employees) and come out to Asia as soon as possible.
Hmmm. This is going to be a trend. It will go on for years. During the good times, financial institutions in Singapore and Hong Kong were short of finance professionals. Due to the market shortage, their salaries climbed high (mine included). Now, however, a huge number of well-qualified banking professionals in London, New York and elsewhere have become unemployed and are flooding the market.
Many will aim to come to Asia. I guess the overall median salaries will have to go down. They probably have already started going down.
Good thing I specialise in various Asian jurisdictions. That gives me some insulation. You will hardly find any banking lawyers in London or New York, who are familar with the banking-related laws in countries such as Thailand, Korea, Malaysia or China. My Asian experience is what keeps me relevant (relatively speaking).