Irish financial services 2008: Good year vs. bad year

Banking bailouts, redundancies and shrinking job opportunities might have led you to believe that the negatives far outweigh the positive aspects of 2008, but there were some bright spots...

2008 WAS A GOOD YEAR FOR...

Experience

In 2007, the biggest salary hikes in the fund administration space were at the junior end, driven up by high levels of employee turnover. In 2008, however, experienced hands were able to demand more pay as firms fought to hold on to good managers.

A fund administration manager in Dublin can now earn up to €90k in Dublin, as opposed to €80k in 2007, according to a salary survey by recruiter Premier Group.

"The majority of vacancies currently available require specific, specialist product knowledge and a minimum of three years' industry experience," says Kate Thomas, manager banking and finance at Premier.

Compliance

Compliance specialists were already hot property in Ireland, with firms vying over a limited talent pool while battling with regulatory requirements around the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, Basel II and the Re-Insurance Directive, but the financial crisis has made them more popular still.

The financial regulator is keeping a close eye on Irish banks after the government bail-out, which makes compliance one of the few areas the banks for which banks are recruiting. Demand for compliance professionals also remains buoyant in the fund servicing and insurance sectors.

"Companies are beefing up compliance across the board," says Paul Cotter, director of Cotter Personnel. "Both at the senior end, to deal with increasing pressures currently, and for junior positions because of what's going to be required down the road."

Accountants

In a tightening job market, Ireland's accountants have been in the enviable position of being able to both command double-digit pay rises and choose between multiple offers.

In the last year, Irish accountants' pay has risen by 15%, according to a Robert Walters salary survey, and even part-quals can expect to haul in €40-45k. In fact, such is the dearth of talent that recruiters have even been attempting to lure them back from Australia.

Louise Campbell, managing director Ireland at Robert Walters, says: "The cost of acquiring talent is ever increasing. We have seen many challenges such as candidates entertaining multiple job offers and an increase in buyback situations."

AND 2008 WAS A BAD YEAR FOR...

Irish banks

Until the government unveiled a very welcome early Christmas present of €5.5bn in recapitalisation money for Irish banks, things were looking very dire indeed.

Minimally exposed to sub-prime related assets they may have been, but heavy investments in the slumping domestic property market battered Irish institutions like Bank of Ireland, AIB, Anglo Irish and Irish Life & Permanent.

Irelands' banks are still open to investments from private equity and fund management firms, but the prospect of forced consolidation, which would inevitably lead to widespread lay offs, looks less likely after the government rescue plan.

Banks have so far refrained from any big redundancy announcements, but the Irish Banking Officials Association estimates that around 1,000 jobs have been lost, mainly through cutting back on temporary and contract staff.

Job-hoppers

At its peak in 2006, attrition at the junior end of the Irish fund administration industry reached 40%, according to the Irish Funds Industry Association.

But with jobs less plentiful and the Celtic Tiger retracting its claws, the story of 2008 was one of job security and training, and employees largely stayed put.

James Hayes, manager banking and financial services at Robert Walters in Ireland, says: "The movement of 18 months ago, when people were moving for purely monetary reasons, has been greatly reduced. Companies are instead placing more emphasis on career planning and training programmes."

Entry-level salaries

In 2007, entry level salaries within Irish fund administration firms became a source of competitive advantage. Companies vied to offer marginally higher packages to lure graduate entrants.

In 2008, however, graduates were simply forced to accept whatever was on offer.

Cotter tells us: "Graduate recruitment has suffered this year, with those who could have got anything between €27-30k being forced to accept salaries in the region of €24-25k. Some firms have even upped the ante and will only accept graduates with a first class degree."

eFinancialCareers' editorial team is now taking a Christmas break (but will be intermittently available to answer your questions and moderate your comments). We wish all our readers a very, very Merry Christmas!