The Lehman saga continues...
I promised to keep you posted, so here is the next installment. And I know I've slipped and broken my own 'i must write a blog entry every day' rule, for which I apologise profusely - it's been an odd couple of days.
So, as I think anyone who watches/reads the news now knows, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 on Sunday night as no-one was interested in buying Lehman out if they couldn't get some assistance from the Federal Reserve (the US equivalent to the Bank of England).
I've heard from my reliable sources that the news coverage showed scores of London-based Lehman chaps clearing their desks and legging it to the nearest place that sells beer at 9.30am. So far, it's been a lot more subdued here; because of the bank holiday on Monday here nobody was officially supposed to be in work, but when we dropped by at about midday, there was a surprisingly high number of bodies beavering about. Colin wanted to go in to collect a ton of books and forward some useful emails that he's going to use to prep for the imminent interviews, but a lot of them seemed to be there just to get a head start on clearing their desks before being given the official "on your bike". It seemed a little bit premature, but then you might as well expect the worst, and any good news is a bonus, eh?
Nobody appears to be too sure what the exact nuts and bolts of the mysterious chapter 11 are, but from what I've gleaned from the Lehman press release (oh yes people, I've been devouring every article, every paragraph and titbit that might be remotely relevant), it gives them protection from creditors for a year while the administrators go about selling off any good bits of the bank so that its 158-year history isn't a complete waste of time. Oh and to also try and salvage something for the shareholders, employees and possibly the CEO if he hasn't been hunted down and munched on by a pack of rabid dogs (not my personal desire, I assure you; just the end you'd think some people are wishing on him, if you take some comments at face value). More uncertainty is stemming from the fact that only one bit of Lehman has filed for bankruptcy; there are many subsidiaries that make up the whole and a number of legal entities, and what happens with one of them (like London yesterday), won't necessarily happen elsewhere.
Currently, there's a surreal feeling of limbo amongst everyone. There's so far been no official word from anyone in Colin's office so there's been an attempt at 'business as usual' today (Tuesday), which is quite hard to say the least, when something so umprecedented and future-muddling has just taken place. But until told otherwise, there's not much else to be done - although of course pretty much everyone's assuming that, no company = no jobs; so we spent yesterday afternoon updating and rewording the Pies Curriculum Vitae ready to give the headhunters a dose of their own medicine. That is, bombarding them every four and a half minutes wanting to talk about the market and possible alternative opportunities!
It hasn't quite reached the carnage of London yet, where I read every recruitment consultant was grabbing his year's supply of business cards, heading to Canary Wharf and circling the shell-shocked masses like vultures scavenging a tasty young wildebeest. Colin did however, spend nearly all of this morning on the phone to recruiters which is hopefully a good sign, meaning that if (though more likely when) the word comes, he'll have a headstart on the jobs that are out there.
It seems to make sense to try and stay in Hong Kong, or at least Asia and maybe the Middle East, mainly due to the vast numbers of Lehman employees that will now be flooding the London job market - a number of recruiters have told Colin that his CV is one of the best they've seen - in simplistic terms, the odds are better here. It will also mean we don't have to break our apartment lease (not supposed to be able to give notice until next July) and we were just beginning to find our feet out here! The flipside of course, is that Colin's work visa is employer-specific, so a new company will have to be willing to sponsor him; the amount of expats working out here is hopefully testament that they struggle to find the required skillsets locally (the golden rule when justifying a work visa to the immigration dudes).
There also seem to be tech jobs up for grabs in Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo, so all options will definitely be kept open - I'm sure the landlord here would rather we didn't jump ship after two and a half months, but if we can't pay the rent due to there being no jobs, he'll have even bigger problems!
Right, I'm beginning to bore myself with all this waffle, so I will leave it there. Obviously I'll let you know as soon as anything happens - in the most literal sense, watch this space!
ironic picture source: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/09/bestplacestowork/source/22.htm (no. 22 in the list of best places to launch a career)
