Job Security and Equities correlation

[Archidamus]

I was still in college during the 2008-2009 equities market bottom and remember many of my older friends struggling to find jobs after graduation (Engineering majors from Ga Tech). It seemed like most industries had hiring freezes and/or lay-offs for years after. I was wondering if quantitative finance had experienced the same extent of turmoil as other industries with regards to job security and opportunity. Maybe this is my own paranoia, but again I am close to graduation (MS Stats) and the equities market looks like it wants to fall off a cliff.

 

[BlackMamba]

I know this is an ambiguous (and borderline obvious) answer, but the greater the positive relationship between the demand for the skill set you bring/provide and the general economic cycle (which equity market prices and volatility can be seen as a sort of proxy for), the less job security and opportunity you will have, all else held equal. E.g., people working in healthcare are certainly less likely to experience anywhere near the job security/opportunity issues than someone working within almost any area of finance (I'd argue this includes quantitative finance) during a recessionary environment. Can't speak to what it was like during the 08-09 crisis for quant finance.

This is a big time "blanket" statement, though. My two cents

 

[pingu]

Quantitative Finance always have high volatility. Don't get in the industry for job security.

 

[Rekhit]

We have heard about algorithmic trading being more dominant as the years go by. My interpretation of this is that as time goes, the quantitative finance field would move towards the people who are equipped with the skills needed for ago-trading and thus these will be in demand for a few years, at least until the tipping point comes. The tipping point could be anything, the market being oversaturated with computer programmers specifically learning algo trading, or the financial institutions themselves have become saturated.
Of course, this is just my opinion.

 

[Ken Abbott]

Hiring freezes tend to be across-the-board. They typically come down form the top and no one is exempt. There is usually an exception process, but quant groups are subject to them, just like everyone else - may even mores since the people setting the policies often don't understand what quants do.