AIB staff exploring other opportunities as job cut fears mount

Another week, and another suggestion that Allied Irish Bank is set to make significant redundancies. Not surprisingly, staff within the bank are getting itchy feet.

Reports that the sale of AIB's UK business has been put on hold after failing to get any decent bids will not be welcomed by its employees in Ireland.

This not only puts the 1,300 staff within these divisions in a new state of flux, but is also a major blow to the bank's plans to raise €5bn in funds by the end of March.

Comments from David Hodgkinson, the bank's newly appointed executive chairman, are also concerning. He admitted after yesterday's EGM that costs and jobs are likely to fall by the wayside. "It's fair to say the bank will be somewhat slimmer," he said.

A desire to move

This will not come as a great shock to AIB staff, with rumours of potentially thousands of job cuts as the bank restructures circulating for months now. But the ongoing uncertainty is taking its toll.

"Anglo Irish has long been the persona non grata for bankers here, but we've recently placed people from AIB there," says one financial services recruiter. "At least they have clarified their plans, whereas AIB employees are concerned about the lack of uncertainty over when and where the expected redundancies will occur."

"I placed some job adverts recently, and the majority of candidates applying were from AIB," adds another financial services recruiter.

Where the cuts could hit

AIB has largely been relying on natural attrition following a hiring freeze enacted in 2008, and has also been encouraging older workers to take early retirement. Staff numbers had fallen by just 700 since June 2009, which is a tiny proportion of its 24,600 full-time employees.

Headcount is expected to be stripped out through its asset disposals (largely international divisions), which will also have a knock-on effect for the back office staff supporting these functions in Ireland. There are also job losses expected as AIB looks to scale back its branch network.

The places to be

But there are also signs that AIB is hiring again. Various recruitment sources point to roles being created within its capital markets division, as well as within credit workout and restructuring.

"There are opportunities in capital markets and corporate treasury, which - along with credit management and relationship managements for SMEs - are likely to remain untouched," claims another headhunter.

Moreover, despite a decent number of people looking to explore other options in AIB, there are also those that are content to sit tight.

"AIB is a traditional organisation and many people have been there for a number of years," says another financial services recruiter. "Many are loath to jump before redundancies kick-in because they don't want to lose the potentially large payout they've accrued over the years."