As a headhunter, most of my work is helping people move to the larger financial centres, but it's not always the case... On the forums, people have been talking about Dubai, and other Middle Eastern financial centres. I can see why it is tough to get people to Dubai, even though of course it is radically different to places like Riyadh. Dubai has a much more liberal political and social climate, but even then there are issues. If you're trying to get people to go to any lower tier financial centre there are a few factors working against you...
Entry level people are looking to longer term issues like learning the core of their business, and getting good brands on their CV. That's hard to do outside London/NY/Chicago and Paris, let alone the Middle East, so we have a critical mass issue, it hard to get the best entry level people to help you grow, until you have grown. This doesn't just apply to the Middle East, few non-Germans show any enthusiasm for Frankfurt, and a large % of Germans want to come to London or NY.
Older people often have families and/or partners, and this makes any form of international movement non-trivial. Now that women have real jobs, they are a non trivial component of household income, so in a place where good female jobs are rare, you need a substantial pay hike just to get even. And of course a growing number of bankers are women...
Dominic Connor writes over on his blog at Wilmott.com.
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