Quantum News

A splendid summer has come and gone and the sun, no doubt tired after a season of unaccustomed hard labour, has begun to sleep in a bit. The Quantum Selection team, on the other hand, have been revitalised by a good dose of vitamin D and have begun to get up earlier in order to fit even more into an already jam packed day. We trust that this newsletter finds you in good health and raring for the countdown to 2007.

TRENDS IN THE ACTUARIAL RECRUITMENT SCENE

We at Quantum Selection certainly agree that there are exciting times ahead in the actuarial job markets around the world and we are experiencing increasing buoyancy in most of our markets, particularly on the insurance side. The increase in demand for life actuaries in the UK seems set to continue, as does the high demand for actuaries with solid GI experience. UK experience is most highly sought, but depending on the role, employers’ are prepared to look to overseas actuaries for life and non-life vacancies. Requirements on the pensions side tend to be more at the senior levels, with some particularly exciting opportunities around.

Vacancies are still on the up in Hong Kong, with a wide choice available particularly at the nearly or newly qualified level (no change there then)! Many of these opportunities are regional, or provide an initial springboard for a business development role, later relocating to Beijing, Shanghai or Taiwan. See http://www.quantumselection.com/Pages/AsiaPacificVac2_ChinaHK&Taiwan.htm for specific vacancies in China.

After a relatively quiet year in 2006, we have been experiencing a similar heating up of the actuarial job scene in Singapore this year. This is partly buoyed up by increasing responsibility for (and business development in) the ASEAN markets, in particular with Singapore’s much smaller (in actuarial job terms that is – perhaps not for very much longer) neighbour, Kuala Lumpur. For more specific detail, please see http://www.quantumselection.com/Pages/AsiaPacificVac2_Sing&Mal.htm

Outside of the traditional recruiting locations, we are seeing increasing need for strong actuarial talent in Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and Korea.

Further good news indicates that the South African and Australian job markets may also be expanding and we expect to focus a lot of our resources in both these locations in the run up to 2007 and beyond. New Zealand is throwing out some interesting vacancies at the moment, particularly in healthcare and general insurance, so we would be delighted to hear from any of you finally ready to make that lifestyle change.

In fact, all this increase in jobs means that QS is on the hunt for consultants for our own team and we are happy to consider applicants from any location. So, if you have very high level of integrity and professionalism, want a flexible lifestyle (i.e. our consultants work primarily from home and at very odd hours to cope with our varied clients and candidates around the world) and would like to do something a bit different, but not too far removed from the actuarial world, then please do get in touch with Susan Robertson on susan@quantumselection.com

AGE DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Ageism is deeply entrenched, not only in the workplace, but also in the whole of society. I recently found myself pacifying a friend who, until her retirement ten years ago, had managed a string of fashionable clothing shops in all the right parts of London. On visiting her local bank, she found herself deeply offended at the bank tellers well meant but patronising, “do you need any help with those forms, dear?”

So many of us are guilty of this sort of attitude that the government has seen fit to introduce new age discrimination legislation as from 1 October. This heralds an era of protection against age discrimination for job applicants and workers at both end of the age scale. From October, you should no longer find bile-raising job adverts calling for ‘Young, innovative actuarial students’ or ‘Fresh graduates’. Both of these (and many other commonly used, but discriminatory phrases) are now outlawed.

Legislation protects not only against direct discrimination (such as the requirement for ‘Young, innovative actuarial students’) but also against indirect discrimination (in this instance the call for ‘Fresh graduates’ would put older people at a disadvantage when compared with others). Harassment, such as making offensive jokes about older colleagues, and victimisation are also covered in the new legislation.

There are instances when employers will still be allowed to discriminate against older people, even in the actuarial field. They could refuse to hire you if you are within 6 months of, or older than, 65 (or their normal retirement age if this is greater than 65). Alternatively they may refuse to take you on for a role that requires a lengthy training period if your retirement is imminent.

It used to be a common perception among employers that older people, while viewed as more reliable and dependable, were also thought of as less adaptable and of poorer health. Older people also tended to be more expensive in terms of salary and benefits with the result that the negative usually outweighed the positive when recruiting.

All is not doom and gloom however and perceptions are definitely shifting. It is recognised now that being 65 today is not the same as being 65 in the 1930’s. In fact even in the mid-1980’s, age 65 was a lot older than it is now. Employers are at last beginning to recognise the value of maturity in a rough business cycle and can see that it is important to attract and retain older workers for the future.

Unfortunately older workers do still face problems in some new and high tech industries where youth still dominates. Many of these industries perceive themselves as looking for new ideas or innovative solutions, though in actual fact neither of these requirements should exclude the older worker.

One would hope that the actuarial profession, with its superior knowledge of changing lifestyles and life expectancies, would be one of the leaders in changing these misconceptions. Valuing people of every age within the workforce and regarding them all as a sustainable rather than a disposable resource is essential for our future prosperity.

COUNTRY FOCUS – NEXT ISSUE MALAYSIA

For future newsletters, we would like to focus on a specific location for our new ‘country focus’ section. In the next issue, we plan to look at Malaysia, as we are seeing a lot of exciting developments recruiting wise in the KL market. We thus invite anybody with experience or interest in Malaysia to submit any advice or information that may be useful for others working in Malaysia or thinking about working in Malaysia. Your experience of the market could be extensive or you could be a relatively new arrival – we value opinions from all perspectives. Useful information includes opinions on the actuarial industry and the actuarial job market in Malaysia, thoughts on living in Malaysia, what makes Malaysia special, what is not so great about the country and absolutely anything that might prove to be a handy hint to existing and prospective entrants to the market.

Much as we would like to give your advice credit, we appreciate that most donors would like to remain anonymous, so please be assured your confidentiality will be respected.

PARTING SHOT

As luck would have it an underwriter lived next door to an actuary. The underwriter was getting sick and tired of loaning out the many personal belongings that the actuary frequently asked to borrow. After all, the actuary should have been able to afford these items for his own.

One day the underwriter saw the neighbour actuary approach. Planning on tricking the actuary, the underwriter decided to deny whatever request the actuary made.

Actuary: "Are you going to be using your power saw today?"
Underwriter: "Sorry, I actually have a lot of wood to cut with my saw and I will be using it all day."
Actuary: "That's okay. So I can borrow your golf clubs then, right?"

(Courtesy of members.aol.com/fcas/jokes.html).

UPDATE

We would really appreciate your keeping us up to date on new exam passes, recent work experience and any other changes in the details we hold on file for you. If we have not heard from you for some time, please take the time to update us, either by using the link below, or by contacting your recruitment consultant directly.
Email: update@quantumselection.com

If you would prefer not to receive future QuantumNews newsletters from Quantum Selection, please reply to this email with REMOVE in the subject line.

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