Q&A: JPMorgan Ireland head's hiring strategy

Carin Bryans is head of the Irish business at JPMorgan. Last month, JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services won a mandate to support $2bn (€1.6bn) of funds for Henderson Global Investors. In light of this, we asked her about plans to grow the Irish business.

Q: Is JPMorgan hiring in Dublin?

At the moment we have around 400 staff in the Dublin office. This year we are looking to hire for another 200. Between 130 and 150 will be brand new positions, the remainder will be to cover staff turnover.

Q: Which areas of the business are the main focus of hiring?

We are growing our hedge fund services business, JPMorgan Hedge Fund Services, formerly known as JPMorgan Tranaut. Last year it grew from 40 or so staff to 100, and we plan to add another 70-80 staff this year. We're hiring for our traditional funds business too. Last year we added 50 or 60 staff.

Q: Will the Henderson business win impact your hiring?

Yes. It's contributing to the growth of our hedge fund business in Dublin.

Q: Do you have any plans to move out of the City?

No. We have no current plans to move out of the city, although we do plan to consolidate our current five offices down to two - one in the North City Centre and one in the International Financial Services Centre.

Q: Are talent shortages a problem?

There are problems of staffing issues shortages as we are in a competitive market.

Q: How are you dealing with them?

We are trying to focus our efforts on graduates and school leavers, and investing in training and development. We are taking on a lot more graduates than previously. 10 to 15 per cent of our hires are now graduates or school leavers i.e. people with no relevant work experience, compared to 5 to 7 per cent three or four years ago.

Q: Are you hiring many people from Eastern Europe?

Around 10% of our staff are non Irish and UK nationals - we have quite a lot of eastern European, Spanish, Italian and Latin American staff. People are becoming more aware of the employment possibilities in Ireland, partly because a number of the recruitment agencies here are active in eastern Europe.

Q: Is it true that financial services companies in Ireland are now offering generous sign on bonuses?

Sign on bonuses are unusual for junior positions, but increasingly common for more senior staff.

Q: How do you deal with the issue of retention?

We're ensuring we pay appropriately and keeping a finger on the pulse of the market. We used to benchmark pay annually, now we do it twice a year more frequently in line with market movements. We're also making sure people have career development plans, and highlighting opportunities for internal mobility within JPMorgan.