The Big Four banks are doing all they can to keep their top risk professionals from joining competitors. And fortunately for these firms, their employees are becoming increasingly unwilling to jump ship. This all adds up to a tight employment market.

Risk professionals are generally reluctant to consider other options, says Dianne Wilson, a partner at Derwent Executive. “Search has become a lot harder because people are keeping their heads down. Nobody wants to be last in, first out.”

Toby Aikins, a consultant at search firm Jon Michel, agrees: “To court candidates out of existing roles is very difficult now.”

Even when candidates get close to accepting new jobs, it’s common for their current employer to make a counter-offer via a promotion, pay-rise, change of job description, or a combination of all three, adds Aikins.

Domestic banks aren’t just making an effort to retain staff because risk is a critical function which has come to the fore during the financial crisis. “It’s also because banks don’t like former employees to take their knowledge of their risk operations to rivals. They all want to know what each other is doing,” explains Aikins.

This tight recruitment market makes it hard to source staff. “When roles do arise, it’s not so easy to find people. Banks are very particular about who they want to hire, but there’s not an abundant supply of candidates looking for work,” says Wilson.

She reckons most current risk vacancies are replacement roles. “But we are starting to hear hiring managers talking about growth, although this hasn’t yet translated into funding for new jobs.”

Aikins adds: “At the moment hiring is mostly to cover a few opportunistic layoffs of underperforming people that happened in late 2008/early 2009.”

Keep an eye on APRA and ASIC if you can’t find a risk job at a bank. “The regulators are in a good position to get candidates who might not have considered them a year ago,” says Wilson.