S.M.Art history

2024

Move away from remote and hybrid work: requirements for working only in the office with almost no possibility of hybrid schedules for state banks and organizations with state participation.

Rejection of candidates with dual citizenship or residency permits from other countries.

Focus on cybersecurity skills: increased demand for cybersecurity specialists due to the growth of digital threats and heightened regulatory requirements.

Expansion of age limits: banks are ready to consider students as well as more mature candidates aged 50+ to address the staffing shortage.

2023

Withdrawal or reduction of activity by European and American banks in Russia

Import Substitution: amid sanctions and geopolitical instability, banks are focusing on developing internal resources and technologies, which increases the demand for specialists in localization and import substitution.

Increased demand for compliance and risk specialists: there is a growing need for professionals who can manage regulatory requirements and risks, especially in the context of changing legislation and economic instability.

Work flexibility: the trend towards hybrid work continues, allowing banks to attract talent from different regions of the country.

2022

Mass exodus of international companies from Russia

Large-scale migration of men out of Russia

Huge demand for IT specialists in the field of information security and switching to Russian software, as well as compliance specialists

Trend of hiring women specifically (without military service record)

Sharp decrease (in some banks - absence) in the size of bonuses

The end of remote jobs: now it's either in an office or a hybrid

For more information, see the Labor Market Survey for 2022: https://smart-boutique.ru/#artcl7951

2021

Very high recruiting activity

Increasing number of vacancies per candidate

Salary growth by 10-15%

Maintaining a remote work schedule

2020

The year that changed everything – COVID-19

Many affected industries, layoffs in companies

Transition to full remote

Rise of recruiting activity in banks

2019

2019 was a very dynamic year for Bank recruitment. Both corporate banks and investment banks hired employees. There are fewer vacancies in retail.

Commercial banks also increased their recruitment volumes in comparison with 2018. Moreover, the appearance of new vacancies was not so much due to the active movement of market players to competitors, but rather to the opening of new business areas, such as trading in physical oil, the opening of leasing and factoring areas, and the launch of digital services for micro and small businesses (including individual entrepreneurs).

And, of course, the sanctions history of recent years has created many new jobs among lawyers, compliance specialists, internal audit specialists, and risk-takers who specialize in this area.

Undoubtedly, IT specialists are becoming more and more popular, they receive several offers every week with an increasingly high salary!

Due to the large recruitment activity, SMART has hired strong consultants in offices in London and Moscow.

2018

2018 proved to be a positive-stable year in terms of the number of prospective positions in international and Russian banks. If in the first half of the year, the requests for corporate banks specialists (Relationship Managers, Credit Risks, Credit Analysts, lawyers, etc.) had prevailed, then in the second half of the year financial markets became more active, there were positions of Traders and Sales, specializing in various financial instruments.

More requests for hiring Russian specialists began to come from companies located in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and major European cities: Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg.

S.M.Art keeps abreast of the modern world trends and grows with our well-known Clients: to increase our work efficiency even more, we began to use the evolutionary agile approach – Kanban, an ideal method for visualizing the process of creative and intellectual work. The results were not long in coming - in 2018 the time for the successful closing of vacancies was reduced by twice, more professionals were found at the request of our Customers!

Certainly, attention to the skills of the elders was attracted by the pension reform that occurred in the summer of 2018, however, it will be possible to note its direct influence on the structure of the labor market, including the banking sector, not earlier than in a couple of years. In fact, changes in attitudes towards people of mature age began in 2013 with the adoption of an anti-discrimination law, that prohibits employers from specifying gender, nationality, marital status, place of residence and age. As a result, applicants stopped making excuses for their age, and employers did become much more tolerant to consider candidates "over 50".

2017

The 10th anniversary of SMART

2016

From the very beginning of 2016 it was an active and positive period in terms of hiring staff in banks. There was a feeling that the stunned financial sector from the sanctions, aggravation of the geopolitical situation and the lack of economic growth passed with the end of 2015.

The largest Russian banks and famous international brands offered lots of new positons, employed professionals throughout the year in various business areas: from Traders and Sales of derivatives products, Large Corporate Client Credit Analysts to Bank Retail Network Development Specialists in the Regions.

However, specialists of compliance, financial monitoring, internal audit were especially in a great demand. That was a continuation of the actual international trend of “tighten the screws” and strengthen control over the investment business on the background of, for example, well-known scandals such as the manipulation of the LIBOR rates, withdrawing money from Russia through operations on the stock / ADR market and others. In 2016 Banking supervision seriously increased, a number of legislation amendments of counteracting the legalization of proceeds from crime were made.

The main trend of 2016 also includes the ever-increasing concentration of the banking business in several largest structures.

2015

The escalation of geopolitical tensions, lack of economic growth and currency volatility coupled with a number of other factors were always going to have a negative impact on the labour market in Russia. The withdrawal of licences from banks together with a substantial reduction in profits at financial institutions led to cost optimisation and major personnel cuts. As a result, the number of vacancies for recruitment agencies decreased and, consequently, competition in the sector increased making it extremely difficult to achieve previous results. The consultants at S.M.Art demonstrated professionalism, hard work, diligence and loyalty to the company during this difficult period.

The labour market in London by contrast reflected a different trend, including a pleasantly high level of activity among financial institutions in terms of recruitment. Thanks to a well-constructed strategy for business development in Europe and cohesive team work, S.M.Art produced excellent results and closed the year on a successful note.

2014

We started 2014 with the development of our new style. The new logo with a firm handshake reflects our most important value — building reliable, successful and productive partnerships with our clients for more than 7 years. We have established ourselves as the leader in the banking recruitment market and we are rightfully proud of it.

Our new website design is based on the «golden proportion» rule and is decorated with Penrose tiling, which reflects the principles of symmetry and beauty as described by the Fibonacci sequence. All these elements stand for the precise, calculated, harmonious, dedicated and ethical approach S.M.Art demonstrates in its work.

The highlight of 2014 was opening of independent office of Recruitment boutique S.M.Art Ltd on Baker Street in the financial capital of the world. Now both geographical and professional horizons of our company have broadened — we started working with banking groups in London!

With new Managing Directors of our Moscow and London offices coming on board, Recruitment boutique S.M.Art became even more successful, further reinforced its focus on the quality of work and individual approach to each customer — all this is leading our team to new exciting achievements!

2013

Since the beginning of 2013 a new trend has emerged among leading banks and investment companies in their quest to remain competitive. Although banks may not be in a position to expand their operations and teams, S.M.Art has received many attractive and often exclusive assignments to search for experienced professionals who are hired to strengthen and reinforce existing teams and add a competitive edge over rivals. Recruitment Boutique S.M.Art also enhanced its own friendly team through training seminars hosted by banking industry experts with experience of foreign corporate cultures and deep knowledge of specialized niches within the banking industry such as derivatives, bond trading on the Russian fixed income market, etc.

2012

2012 witnessed the withdrawal of several major foreign banks from Russia’s financial market, as well as several mergers and acquisitions, which clearly defined the leading banks and financial companies in the investment, retail and corporate sectors. Even Private Banking, a sphere which had proved successful for S.M.Art during previous years and an area where the boutique had excelled in the selection and placement of both individuals and entire teams, also become considerably less competitive and narrower due to the departure of a number of strong players from the Russian market.

Nevertheless, S.M.Art remained true to its philosophy and principle of quality work with an individual approach to each client, and continued to remain a reliable and often exclusive partner for well-known banking brands.

2011

2011 saw the establishment of some promising and very successful new investment «start-ups», and Recruitment boutique S.M.Art was on hand to assemble solid investment teams with experienced individuals who were yearning for the dynamic, high-tempo environment of investment banking. The year proved very dynamic, productive and successful for both the development of S.M.Art and for the majority of banks and companies. The business tempo and the number of vacancies at clients of S.M.Art had again happily returned to the pre-crisis levels of 2008.

2010

In 2010 S.M.Art Recruitment Boutique augmented its specialization in banking by successfully forging working relations with major foreign companies in others sectors, including FMCG, electronics manufacturing and agribusiness, as well as well-known names in the luxury segment. This allowed the recruitment boutique to maintain stability, while broadening its horizons during the tumultuous crisis years. Moreover, the team’s in-depth knowledge of finance and banking proved very effective for non-banking sector companies, particularly in closing projects in these companies’ treasuries and their financial departments.

The change in both the tempo and nature of the recruitment business as a result of the economic crisis led to some very pleasant and welcome changes in team morale at S.M.Art, as the special team events organised by the boutique took on a more personal and family-orientated ambience through the participation of employees’ children.

2009

2009 would prove to be very challenging and a watershed year for the global economy, banking recruitment in particular. Large staff cuts by all banks, including the complete withdrawal of some Western names from the Russian market, along with the bankruptcy of others, created a serious lesson in the art of survival for most companies, regardless of their scale of business.

Adapting to the new environment S.M.Art Recruitment Boutique took a decision to change offices, moving from one of the more prestigious areas of Moscow — The Golden Mile — to a more affordable, but no less charming and greener location at Frunzenskaya Embankment. Through all of this upheaval the Recruitment Boutique team remained intact, and as strong as ever, in a cohesive, family atmosphere. A team trip to the majestic city of Vienna for a few glorious days lifted the spirits of the S.M.Art team in the unique ambiance of the «city of frozen music», nurturing the optimism of the team for the times ahead.

2008

In 2008 when the performance of the Russian stock market was reaching its peak driven by record high oil prices, Recruitment Boutique S.M.Art was on hand to assist several foreign banking brands entering the market for the first time, by helping them form proficient «start-up» teams of experienced professionals. S.M.Art gained valuable experience recruiting for many retail, corporate and investment banks from the West. We specialized mainly in the recruitment of personnel for international banks and investment firms.

A trip to the Eternal City of Rome in majestic Italy was a memorable and well-deserved break for the great efforts of the entire team that year.

2007

Recruitment Boutique S.M.Art was founded in 2007 during a period of rapid socio-economic development in the Russian economy which led to the ascendance of the investment banking market. The recurring theme of 2007 was a lack of suitably-qualified candidates on the market and Russian and international investment houses competing to quickly assemble teams of experienced investment bankers. Increasingly, banks started the appreciate the complexity of finding a recruitment agency they could count on to become a reliable partner; one which was in tune with the dynamics of their business; one which analyzed and evaluated their particular development path and goals; a recruitment agency devoted not just to the recruitment professionals, but one focussed on building cohesive team focussed on common success.

The concept and philosophy followed by S.M.Art recruitment boutique, applying a customized approach to each client in unison with a deep understanding of the banking sector, became indispensable for many foreign banks which recognized the value of having S.M.Art as a reliable partner on the local market.

From the outset, the course taken by S.M.Art recruitment boutique channelled great emphasis on team cohesion, creating a friendly and positive working environment. This was achieved through interesting trips to Europe and team-building events in Moscow and St. Petersburg.