Why Irish financial services redundancies don't appear to be getting any better (or much worse)
Despite the increased sense of optimism around the Irish financial services jobs market, official figures suggest that the number of people being made redundant remains in line with this time last year. So, have things really improved?
Figures from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) show that 228 people lost their job within the banking, finance and insurance sector in January 2010.
This number isn't huge - particularly compared to the increase elsewhere in the Irish employment market - but is still very slightly more than the 224 redundancies in January 2009.
In fact, delving a little deeper into the DETE data shows there were very few peaks and troughs throughout last year. Monthly Irish financial services redundancies hovered between 150-270.
Obviously, official statistics should always be taken with a pinch of salt. Significant financial services redundancy announcements last year include those at RBS, Anglo Irish Bank, GE Money, ACC Bank, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Ulster Bank. It's also rumoured that some firms cut small numbers of staff under the radar.
However, these announcements slowed towards the tail end of 2009. Fintan Lawler, banking consultant at recruiters Hudson in Ireland, says the flow of CVs from redundant financial services professionals has also calmed in the last three months.
"There are also a lot more opportunities now than throughout 2009," he adds. "We're still seeing a great deal of contract work, and a need for senior and specialised roles within the banking and fund administration sectors."
Similarly, Hamish Reid, executive consultant within Sigmar Financial Services, says: "The first month of 2010 has been even busier than the last quarter of 2009, when there was a noticeable uptick. Firms are prepared to replace key people, and there's definitely increased activity. However, we're not seeing any recruitment at the junior level - if the job pays less than €40k there's very little demand."
