HAYS IRELAND BLOG

THOUGHTS ON THE WORLD OF WORK

Friday 13 January 2012

Banking in Ireland - a new horizon

UlsterBank confirmed yesterday that it will be cutting its workforce by 950 staff bythe end of the year. 600 employees in the Republicof Ireland are to be made redundant,while 350 jobs are proposed to go in Northern Ireland.

LarryBroderick, general secretary of the IBOA which represents the majority ofUlster Bank staff was extremely shocked by the sheer scale of the job cutsbeing proposed by management

Howeverjob losses have been widely forecast in retail banking and Ulster Bank, who hasbeen seen as one of the best employers in the sector will not have taken thisdecision lightly. The cost pressures onall banks have been well documented, as is the need for them to return toprofitability.

Thequestion that springs to mind now is - is the banking sector doomed?

Ibelieve the answer is no; although numbers may initially dip, in the long runthere will still be considerable job opportunities in this sector over thecoming years. What will change, almostcertainly, is the actual banks and financial services providers that willprovide jobs here. As internet bankingbecomes more and more popular, there is less requirement for the physicalretail presence.

Thenumber of players on the high street has reduced and is unlikely to return towhat we saw five years ago. However, we have seen tremendous growth in the‘funds’ and wholesale banking operations in the IFSC. The IFSC Clearing House Group’s plan for thesector targets 10,000 new jobs in the next 5 years.
Even themain retail banks retain an appetite for collections expertise, risk and creditanalysts, corporate relationship managers and restructuring experts. Some salaries are showing signs of increasingfor the first time in 3 years, driven by a lack of supply.

Withouta doubt our Financial Services and Banking Sectors will remain a keyemployer. There will continue to beradical change and restructuring but that should just mean re-orientation andtraining for some ‘traditional’ bankers. The sector is set to remain vibrantfor years to come.
As aclosing observation – we at Hays have certainly seen significant levels ofactivity in our Banking team which has grown steadily during 2011 and shows nosign of abating during 2012.

Allan Daly is Business Director of HaysBanking in Ireland

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