Bonuses may not be on the cards until 2011

Around 65% of financial services firms in Ireland are not planning on handing out bonuses this year, and it may be 2011 before discretionary payments are back on the agenda again.

The latest salary survey by Irish recruiters Brightwater reflects what has been an incredibly difficult year for the financial services industry.

Pay offered to new hires is down by an average of 4-10%, according to their research, and salaries have been frozen across banking, fund administration, wealth management and within the stockbroking sector.

The fund administration sector, which experienced its fair share of redundancies in 2009, was particularly badly affected when it comes to pay - decreasing by 8-15% in some instances, says Brightwater.

While the recruitment firm believes there are some more positive signs going into the new year, you shouldn't expect a notable turnaround.

Instead, financial services firms in Ireland may focus on developing existing staff.

"Training and development budgets for 2010 remain untouched and in some instances have increased in order to boost up skilling incentives among staff member," it says. "Some organisations are proactively developing in-house cross training programmes, with the attainment of external qualifications being encouraged among staff."

Irish banking salaries

Irish fund administration salaries

Source: Brightwater