Wall Street hires more senior bankers as growing confidence spurs deal rebound

• Wall Street banks have hired dozens of senior executives in recent months, as improved economic sentiment has spurred mergers and IPOs after a lull earlier in the year due to concerns over the effect of U.S. tariffs.
• The surge in job-hopping, which typically occurs in the spring, illustrates how rising confidence has prompted banks to staff up to handle a wave of dealmaking.
• On Friday, JPMorgan named industry veteran Jerry Lee as global chair of investment banking, who will be joining from his rival Goldman Sachs. The bank has recently added several senior bankers in technology, energy and activism defence and hired more than 300 bankers between January and April across its global banking unit.
• Wall Street executives usually receive and consider job offers between January and April, weeks after receiving their yearly bonuses. But the 2025 hiring season was interrupted by the announcement of U.S. tariffs that President Donald Trump called "Liberation Day."
• Talks for M&A and capital markets transactions froze. "The tariffs put a hard stop on hiring and banks started to downsize," said Alan Johnson, founder of compensation consultancy Johnson Associates. In June, as investment banking activity resumed, job openings that were on hold materialised, according to bankers and recruiters.
• Although recruitment improved after tariff-fueled freezing, it is still below more active years in the last decade, said Alan Johnson, founder of compensation consultancy Johnson Associates.
• While hiring for senior managing director positions has been steady, banks started hiring more junior staff in August, according to Tom Ragland, founder and CEO of financial services search firm the Harrison-Rush Group.

(Sources: Reuters)