Still jobs to be had at Irish fintech firms
With all the gloom surrounding the Irish economy at the moment, it's surprising to see an industry that seems to be doing comparatively well and still has an appetite to hire - financial technology providers. What's more, they're keen to attract UK techies.
Shrinking IT budgets in the banking sector would suggest software vendors in this space shouldn't exactly be thriving, and when you add the Irish recession into the mix it seems even more unlikely.
The Irish Software Association would disagree, however. There are some 200 technology firms in Ireland, and around a third of these serve the financial sector. Pat Brazel, chairman of the association, believes most will remain profitable this year, mainly because of their international focus.
"Ireland is a teeny market for indigenous firms," he says. "Irish events haven't made a difference to Irish technology firms."
One example is Rockall Technologies, a collateral management software provider that employs a mere 25 people in Dublin, which has won a number of big deals with US banks recently and says it's handling 12 times as many enquiries about its product than it did last year.
Norkom Technologies, which produces financial crime and compliance software, posted a 37% increase in revenues for 2008 and is currently recruiting.
Similarly the likes of Murex, Realex Payments and Vordel are all hiring, even if the numbers aren't exactly huge.
First Derivatives, a provider of front office banking software and consultancy services, says it intends to increase its 150-strong workforce by 50-80 over the course of this year.
Fearghal McGovern, business development manager at the firm, says a lot of Irish financial software vendors received backing - whether that be seed capital, governmental or VC backing - before the recession took hold and are mid-way through pre-defined growth plans.
He says they're mainly looking for consultants with a good knowledge of front office software, such as Charles River or Calypso, as well as developers with experience of C# or Java.
"We're receiving a lot of applications from people in the UK who have been made redundant from front office investment banking IT roles," he says. "We welcome them, our last hire was some with a wealth of experience in this area and his knowledge is valued among our team."
But Aileen Hallahan, managing consultant for IT at recruiters Hudson in Dublin, is keen to point out that it's not completely rosy.
"Certainly there is an appetite to hire among these firms, particularly developer talent, but the volumes are significantly down on this time last year. Most companies are somewhat cautious and are receiving a lot of unsolicited applications at the moment."
