Tokyo – like certain other financial centres – is not short of unemployed expat finance industry types, many of them living off pay-out deals (cushy or otherwise) while they seek new jobs in Japan or elsewhere.
The pay-off deals seem to range from rather curmudgeonly (two month’s pay and nothing more); to not-bad (four to six months pay and perhaps some help with rent and/or relocation costs); to downright lavish (six months or more full pay, rent and school fees, relocation costs, and even the services of a recruitment agency).
It has struck us lately that the coveted third category contains a surprisingly large number of IT guys, with even mid-level staff enjoying Rolls Royce departures.
Take the example of at least four different IT guys (and they always seem to be guys) we’ve come across in Tokyo, all of whom worked for big-name western investment banks.
Matt (not his real name) was a mid-level IT guy for a Wall Street bank. Actually, “mid” is probably overstating it. But when the bank tried to “let him go” late last year, he extracted a deal that featured 18 months full pay and coverage of his rent and even gym club and Japanese language lesson fees, plus various other perks.
How? Why? Simple, says Matt: “They tried to sack me, they offered me a measly few months pay. And I just told them what I had on them, and let them know I kept copies of it all – particularly the dodgy stuff”. The “dodgy” stuff includes records of meetings discussing sensitive deals and trading strategies. It also includes communications sent by senior managers. It’s all backed up, Matt says with a grin, and of course, those copies are all in his handsomely-equipped study in central suburban Tokyo.
This, in a nutshell, is every banker’s nightmare. The rogue IT guy who knows all, sees all, writes codes for ultra-sensitive trading programmes or handles IT support for the most secret deals; the guy who sees all the CEO’s communications; and handles the recordings and video hook-ups for high-powered meetings and conference calls.
Oh yes.
We always knew that IT people often make a specialty of making things seem more complicated and more mysterious than they are. These days, the really savvy ones don’t just focus on hardware and software problems. They’re busily digesting the content they’re supposed to be processing or facilitating.
So bankers, next time you hurl abuse at the clueless looking IT guy or try to get him sacked, think again.
Related links:
When two tribes go to war, the fight harms your score – FT