eFinancialCareers

Ireland's financial sector is still in the midst of a jobs crisis, which could eventually see the loss of 10,000 positions, according to the country's finance union. The headline figure from the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) could, of course, create panic among Ireland's financial services employees, but the majority of these roles may have already been lost. However, Bank of Scotland (Ireland)'s decision to axe 750 jobs last week, and the... Read more

Bank of Scotland (Ireland) is set to cut 750 jobs after closing its retail network to focus on corporate and commercial lending activities. The cuts are severe, and are already causing a lot of consternation within Ireland's financial services sector, but cannot come as a complete surprise considering the ongoing restructuring within its parent company Lloyds Banking Group. All 44 BoSI branches, which operate under the Halifax brand, will be closed... Read more

The pitch-fork sporting masses have been quick to point the finger at how lavish pay packets are indicative of the elitism inherent in the financial sector, but perhaps they should delve a little deeper into bankers' linguistic abilities. According to a new paper by academics at the University of Limerick and University of Ulster provocatively titled 'Language and Occupational Status: Linguistic Elitism in the Irish Labour Market', those who speak Gaelic... Read more

Ireland has again fallen victim to Royal Bank of Scotland's wildly swinging axe, after the bank revealed it cutting 108 jobs within its asset financing unit, Lombard. RBS has deemed the division "non-core". This follows job cuts at Ulster Bank and mortgage lender First Active, both arms of the Scottish bank, over the last year. 84 of the redundancies will hit the Republic of Ireland, with the remaining 24 positions going from... Read more

The 450 staff of KBC Bank Ireland can breathe a sigh of relief, at least for the time being, now that it's escaped the restructuring plan imposed on its Belgian parent by the European Commission yesterday. Ireland has not been considered a core market for KBC for some time now, so employees here were on tenterhooks as the bank agreed to sell certain assets in return for receiving state aid.... Read more

If, as many in the recruitment sector will tell you, the situation is looking up for Ireland's financial services jobs market then it's a very slow process. However, adding to the gradually growing tide of optimism is the fact that there were more vacancies last month than at any other point during 2009. The number of new job vacancies in September rose by 31% on August, according to recruiters Premier Group's... Read more

Redundancy announcements in the Irish domestic banking world are a still rare beast, as government intervention prevented what would have inevitably been deep cuts. However, as Bank of Ireland's trading statement today revealed, they're not averse to a little trimming. BoI released a trading statement today to coincide with the government's guarantee announcement on NAMA. It expects to generate income for the six months to 30 September 2009 that will be... Read more

The City of London has produced an interesting study on EU financial services employment. As we mentioned earlier, it contains some bleak projections, such as job levels in major EU financial centres won’t recover until 2013, and even then UK financial services employment will lag 2008 levels by 10,000. It also offers some interesting insights into where to situate your career. As the chart below shows, although the UK offers by... Read more

This might be slightly ironic, considering the rigmarole surrounding the intricacies of setting up the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), but Dublin could serve as a hub for 'bad bank' assets (insert own joke here) and one possible area of expertise in demand going forward could be chasing impaired loans. A recent piece in the Irish Times pointed to the fact that Dublin's reputation and standing as a financial centre has,... Read more

Bank of Ireland features quite prominently on the league table of financial services redundancies so far this year, but other Irish banks have yet to register union Unite's job cuts round up. The bank has chopped 1,035 people between January and April of this year, according to Unite, which has published the (very long) list of financial services job cuts in an attempt to highlight the plight of the industry. "The financial... Read more

Ireland's financial sector has received a much-needed boost by the entrant of a new range of investment funds worth €90bn, which is likely to create a large number of jobs. However, one industry body suggest competition could get a lot stiffer for the industry. Source UK, a joint venture between Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, has unveiled plans to domicile a new range of funds in Ireland.... Read more

At best, banking salaries in Ireland have been frozen this year and in worst-case scenarios, they're actually being reduced. However, bank employees should stand up for their rights and ensure they at least receive the minimum rise required by law. Larry Broderick, general secretary of the Irish Bank Officials' Association says that bank staff - faced with pay cuts, possible redundancy and reduced pension provision - should demand that any salary... Read more

Ireland's stockbrokers have gone into 2009 in much the same way they ended last year – making redundancies and cutting pay. And it seems there's little reason for optimism about hiring going forward. NCB Stockbrokers has revealed plans to cut a further 20 people, following on from the 10 redundancies in July last year. It also asked senior staff to take a 20% pay cut earlier in 2009. All areas... Read more

While the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) is likely to create some jobs, ironically it might also be responsible for spurring the first widespread redundancies within Ireland's domestic banks. The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA), the bankers' union, has said it wants to get involved in the negotiations around the government's plans to make a "bad bank" to house the estimated €80bn of development and investment property loans. It fears... Read more

Concerns over public finances have already led Standard & Poor’s to downgrade Ireland’s sovereign credit rating from AAA to AA+. The problems with Ireland’s banking sector could yet lead it to downgrade the country further. The Irish government has already committed €7bn to help Irish banks recapitalise their battered balance sheets. Despite this, banks have so far shied away from any large-scale redundancies. This could change. S&P... Read more

Shock, horror a financial services firm has actually set up in Ireland – UK building society Nationwide – and has created 20 jobs in a new head office in Dublin’s International Financial Services Centre. It also has plans to expand going forward. The building society is hoping to capitalise on its reputation for offering safe investment products to lure Irish savers to its products around credit cards, mortgages and personal loans.... Read more