Another took it a step further. After losing her job as an analyst at a global investment bank in 2023, Ms Yang, 24, spent months searching for work, lining up about 10 interviews at consulting, venture capital and private equity firms, without success.
With her HK$20,000 a month lease coming up, she decided to move back to the mainland to live with her parents and pursue a career outside of traditional finance.
“The competition is a lot more fierce than before,” said Ms Yang, who like others quoted for this article asked not to give her full name speaking about sensitive career matters. “If you have one private equity job in the market, there will be hundreds of former bankers’ resumes flying through.”
The number of people licensed with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, a reflection of the number of finance professionals in the city, has dropped by more than 600 since the end of 2021, to 44,722 as at December 2023.
With her HK$20,000 a month lease coming up, she decided to move back to the mainland to live with her parents and pursue a career outside of traditional finance.
“The competition is a lot more fierce than before,” said Ms Yang, who like others quoted for this article asked not to give her full name speaking about sensitive career matters. “If you have one private equity job in the market, there will be hundreds of former bankers’ resumes flying through.”
The number of people licensed with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, a reflection of the number of finance professionals in the city, has dropped by more than 600 since the end of 2021, to 44,722 as at December 2023.