Nama’s headcount is growing exponentially

While banks in Ireland continue to trim headcount, one place appears to be hiring and growing exponentially: Nama.

As was pointed out this week, Nama now employs 202 people. When it was founded, it was envisaged the agency would employ 50.  Headcount at the agency has doubled since the end of 2010.

Nama has a reputation as a hard and bureaucratic task master, but it doesn't pay too badly. In 2010, average compensation at the agency was around €88k per head, which compares favourably to average compensation of €63k at Bank of Ireland.  Nama has yet release a current compensation bill, so it’s unclear whether it’s had to pay more to attract all the additional staff.

Technically, staff don’t actually work for Nama: they are hired from the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and are loaned out to Nama.

As Nama adds staff, the bank formerly known as Anglo has been cutting them. IBRC said this week that it cut staff numbers 11% in 2011 to 1,219. 183 people working for the IBRC are in its 'Nama division'. Their jobs are probably safe, therefore.