Redundancies and pay freezes...but promotions for the right people

It might not be a massive surprise to employees in Ireland's beleaguered financial services sector, but two thirds of firms are considering job cuts and the majority are pessimistic about the current business environment. However, a large proportion of CEOs believe one of the challenges this year is keeping hold of the staff they want.

A new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers in Ireland suggests that 60% of firms are looking to reduce their workforce in 2009.

Similarly depressing news is the fact that 67% are going either freeze or cut basic pay, and 53% are likely to do the same with bonuses. Perhaps not surprisingly, 65% of respondents reckon the key challenge is keeping existing employees motivated.

The silver lining of all this is that because financial services workers in Ireland are understandably feeling a little less enthusiastic at the moment, you could be given that promotion to persuade you to stick with the firm.

Ciara Fallon, senior manager, strategy advisory services at PwC, says the downturn offers opportunities: "Organisations can better harness the value of their people and foster and fast-track genuine talent."

The majority of those surveyed (65%) are convinced that they can identify and retain top performers.

The cut backs will good for Ireland (eventually), says Ronan Murphy, senior partner at PwC.

"While there will be a lot of pain in getting there, especially on the people side, Ireland will have substantially recalibrated its cost base, and in so doing, will have gone a long way to restore its competitiveness for the future."