Financial news Ireland – job market news, recruitment & career trends in Ireland for the finance sector

Amid one of the worst employment markets in living memory, beleaguered lender Anglo Irish Bank is due to unveil a wide-ranging cost-cutting exercise next month, which could see hundreds of jobs lost. What chance do its employees have of finding new positions? The bank has been working with external consultant Deloitte since May to determine the scale of a programme designed to shrink costs “to match the balance sheet size”. October... Read more

The 230 redundancies confirmed by Anglo Irish Bank today has to rank among the least surprising announcements of recent times – even if final number of job losses does fall at the lower end of predictions. However, rather ominously, more are likely going forward. Of the 230 job losses, 110 will be in Ireland, while 95 fall on the UK operations and 25 in the US. The bank also says that... Read more

Bank of Ireland has transferred over 2,000 staff from its retail banking division in the Republic to the group's central support functions in the face of reduced business activity. Elsewhere, total headcount has reduced by just 5%, but a hiring freeze remains and bonuses have been slashed as part of an ongoing cost-cutting exercise. "Staff numbers are down as a result of a recruitment freeze, a policy of non-replacement of... Read more

Given that Anglo Irish Bank went cap-in-hand to the government for €1.5bn shortly before Christmas, you might have thought it wasn’t the best place to work. However, staff at the bank have received both pay rises and bonuses going into the new year. The Irish Independent reports that junior level staff at AIB have been awarded pay rises, in contrast to most other areas of Irish financial services. Middle management... Read more

In spite of the ongoing problems affecting Ireland’s domestic banks, it seems they have so far been in the relatively unique position of holding off making any significant headcount reductions. Thanks to Bank of Ireland, that may be about to change. In a bid to cut costs as the financial crisis continues to bite, Ireland’s biggest bank is thought to be considering making one in 10 of its Irish staff redundant,... Read more

AIB staff have the government to thank for the fact that the bank has yet to announce any redundancy plans, in spite of posting a €872m for the first half of 2009. However, headcount is down since the beginning of this year, bonuses have evaporated and hiring is still non-existent. The results were predictably bleak – a €872m loss for the first six months of 2009, compared to a €1.04bn profit... Read more

Anglo Irish's decision to award 70 staff 'modest' pay rises is not only out of kilter with continued poor results at the bank, but is also unreflective of salary trends in the country's financial sector generally. The move to award salary increases to 40 staff in Ireland, 20 in the UK and 10 employees in its US operations has not gone down well at all. Needless to say, after nationalisation,... Read more

AIB's new managing director Colm Doherty has admitted something to staff that ongoing chief executive Eugene Sheehy did not – job cuts may be necessary. Despite the bank's iron grip on costs, which has included cancelling the Christmas party and cutting down on stationery, it has yet to unveil any redundancy plans. In the immediate aftermath of state bailouts, it was considered too politically sensitive for both AIB and Bank of... 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

Graduate opportunities at Irish banks might be drying up, but the Big Four accountancy firms are recruiting for 2009 with the same fervour as last year. And competition for places is heating up. There’s a distinctly frosty feel to graduate recruitment at Ireland’s two biggest banks. Allied Irish Bank has cancelled its scheme entirely this year. Bank of Ireland has already asked half of the 116 students accepted on the... Read more

The mooted takeover of Irish Life and Permanent by Bank of Ireland has moved a step closer with news that JC Flowers and Carlyle are preparing to buy a stake in the bank with a view to engineering the merger. Meanwhile, AIB has been tipped to absorb EBS and Irish Nationwide and the Bank of Ireland has also been matched with Anglo Irish Bank. NCB Stockbrokers say consolidation is... Read more

Both the Irish government and Anglo Irish have sought to reassure staff that they will remain employed in the wake of the bank’s nationalisation, but analysts remain unconvinced of job prospects in the long term. Last night the government announced that it was abandoning plans to take a 75% stake in the bank by injecting €1.5bn, and instead was placing it under complete state control. “The judgement of the Central... Read more

Official figures indicate that there were just 380 redundancies within the banking, finance and insurance sectors in Ireland since the beginning of this year, so why are people applying for a job in McDonalds? Statistics from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment suggest things aren’t that bad in the financial sector, with just 151 people losing their job in February and 380 in 2009. However, the Irish... 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

The former head of credit investments at Anglo Irish Bank has resurfaced at the local subsidiary of Nigerian firm, Afribank, making him one of the few senior members of the beleaguered institution to find gainful employment elsewhere. Andrew Curtin moved to the post of managing director at ANP International (ANPI) – an IFSC-based subsidiary of Afribank – in September, having formerly held the post of associate director and head of credit... Read more

In normal circumstances, the fact that a couple of international institutions are recruiting for a few corporate banking roles in Ireland wouldn't attract a lot of attention. However, because they're among the only firms to have looked to hire within this beleaguered sector for some time, the industry has sat up and taken note. Both HSBC and Barclays have been on the hunt for corporate bankers in recent weeks, with rumours... Read more

Two words can be used to largely sum up the financial services jobs market in Ireland this year – hiring freeze. While it’s true that the vast majority of sectors suffered, some managed to fare well in the face of adversity. 2009 has been a good year for… Insurance: The number of new jobs created might not be astronomical, but the fact that Ireland has continued to attract new insurance entrants to... Read more