With many major financial hubs around the world in lockdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the private equity industry is having to adapt to a changed environment. For many firms, recruitment has taken a backseat as they deal with more pressing issues.
See all Private Equity International’s coverage of covid-19 and its impact.
We caught up with headhunters Mary Gay Townsend from Norgay Partners and Simon Nixon of Carpenter Farraday who told us that private equity firms and placement agents are still hiring for specific roles within specific teams.
“It’s not going to be as robust a hiring market as it had been even a month ago because firms have to be really mindful of what the bottom line is, what the teams are and maybe repurposing people internally to take on more responsibility, but I do think they are still thinking strategically about certain hires,” Townsend said.
Townsend and Nixon also discuss:
- State of the hiring market in private equity.
- Differences between hiring practices in North America and Europe during the pandemic.
- How the crisis is affecting salary expectations.
- How job candidates can make video conferencing work in their favour.