The bounty hunters

Oct 14 2003 by Brian Amble Print This Article

Since we launched Management-Issues back in 2001, we seen to have done little else but write about redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing.

In the past ten days it seems that this has suddenly changed. Skills shortages are back on the agenda.

The latest salvo in this new ‘war for talent’ will come as welcome news to the thousands of financial sector professionals who have lost their jobs over the past few years.

In a move that is bound to trigger similar initiatives across the UK investment banking sector, US firm Lehman Brothers is offering it’s a £6,000 bounty for every executive they manage to poach from rival companies.

According to a report in today’s Evening Standard, staff in London and other financial centres throughout the world are being offered the incentive for the first time since the mid-Nineties when the practice was widespread.

A Lehman spokesman said: "This is an important and growing component of our recruitment effort which will help us to attract talented people from as wide a candidate pool as possible."