Merrill's Irish staff fret over futures

The future of Merrill Lynch's Irish operations has yet to be decided, following the bank's purchase by Bank of America. Some of its 800 staff are getting nervous and putting feelers out into the job market, but it seems they are mainly staying put.

The mainstay of Merrill's Irish presence is its global markets and investment banking services group, which covers a number of back-office functions including asset services and cash management.

Recruiters tell us that Merrill employees have been sending speculative CVs to see what job options are on the market, but few are rushing for the door.

Paul Cotter, director of recruiters Cotter Personnel, says: "We've had calls, but the market's not flooded with Merrill employees. People are more likely to stay put at the moment anyway," he says.

Merrill refuses to comment on the future of its Irish presence, while Bank of America tells us it has yet to make a decision on what to do in Dublin. The good news is that there's little overlap between the two organisations, with Bank of America only operating its MBNA brand out of Ireland.

Nicola Kavanagh, banking and finance manager at Hudson in Ireland, thinks some Merrill staff may have been quietly sneaking off to competitors.

"Merrill has two offices, one in the city centre and another in Dublin 16. The latter is positioned near competitors, such as HSBC, which perform similar functions. There's a lot of movement between the organisations so if somebody wants to switch jobs, they generally send their CVs directly to competitors," she says.

Merrill's Irish operation also has responsibility for credit and risk management and the bank has been building its research, development and innovation technology centre in its offices in Leopardstown, Dublin, since July last year.

There's also the relatively small wealth management function that has three executives running portfolios in the Irish capital.