Slowdown means opportunity for some industries

And employees will have chance to learn new skills, take on responsibility

Julie Beun-Chown, For Canwest News Service

Published: Sunday, January 18, 2009

Several financial sectors will show positive growth over the next couple of years even as the insurance, auto and mortgage industries become increasingly sluggish, analysts say.

Addressing future prospects for MBA graduates and current business management, experts say that despite the global downturn and a 21 per cent slump in overseas outsourcing and call centres, jobs in such areas as financial information technology will grow over the next 18 months.

Dheeraj Sharma, an associate professor at Athabasca University's Centre for Innovative Management, says that financial IT will "continue to be a bit bullish. It will continue to grow, and skilled individuals like language experts and program developers will benefit. There's going to be jobs for project management, human resources, systems administration and programming."

As a result of the global nature of the downturn -- Britain and Japan are now formally in recession, and China and India have dropped their projected economic growth by 40 to 50 per cent -- risk management and assets acquisitions and mergers will also be hot growth areas, even in harder-hit industries like insurance, says Sharma, who recently returned from a speaking tour of India and the Middle East.

"Almost all insurance industries have taken a tumble, along with the Big Three auto companies. Sales have declined; it is a global phenomenon. In the Middle East and Asia, for example, car sales have dropped by 10 to 20 per cent. That results in insurance problems because they can't sell like they used to. The same can be said of the housing industry -- if people aren't buying homes, insurance isn't being sold.

"But if there are total layoffs, and a company is skinned to the bones, there's the top 20 per cent that's left. If an employee can be flexible and broaden their skill set in positioning themselves to retain their job, it'll create an opportunity to learn risk management, how to manage in a recession, how to handle a downturn, how to handle mergers and acquisitions."

The same can be said of business analysts moving to restructure companies that have spent the past five years "trying to capture every dollar" and so neglected basics like market research, employee training and software upgrades, says Cody Anderson, CEO of the Edmonton-based Financial Staff recruitment company.

"It's a good time for companies to improve their basic processes, and build a foundation for going forward. They'll have more time than in the past two years to work on projects that will make the company stronger and more streamlined. Smart employees looking to position themselves solidly should be looking at those things because that's where the growth will be for the next year and a half."

But with an anticipated four- to five-per-cent loss of total finance jobs within the next year, an important challenge for job seekers will be getting a foot in the door, Anderson warns.

"As we get more candidates on the market, there'll be more challenges in getting through the job screenings, especially with companies doing layoffs," he says. "Good managers will look at who is pulling their weight, or not fitting in with their teams. If you're hoping to stay with your current employers, be aggressive in asking for extra assignments and duties."

MBA graduates will also need to shift their attitude and drop any sense of entitlement.

"There was a great deal of growth in 2006 and 2007," Sharma says, "and students became somewhat arrogant because they had multiple offers, they were negotiating salaries. That has to change. There are a lot of multinationals and national companies with a total hiring freeze. They've negotiated a pay reduction with their employees. So, in an area where there were huge incentives, now the incentive is just to keep your job.

"My best advice? Don't be so fussy. Take employment where you'll gain more than just monetary benefits."

Source: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/working/story.html