| Salaries to increase in 2007 as demand to outweigh supply in buoyant jobs market |
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| The results of two recent surveys carried out by the recruitment firms Robert Walters and Accreate point to a buoyant year ahead for employment in the finance and financial services sector in Ireland. |
With continued growth in the sector, the demand for qualified professionals will outstrip supply throughout 2007, leading to increased opportunities and salaries for quality candidates.
The boom in financial services in Ireland will lead to a further 8000 jobs being created within the next five years according to Finance Dublin (October 2006). This will be fuelled by Ireland's emergence as a centre for structured finance combined with the growth in funds and the corporate and commercial lending sectors.
The continuation of this buoyant recruitment market will lead to a bigger shortage of candidates which may lead to a further rise in salaries being offered. There is a growing trend of UK-level packages (ordinarily 15-20% more lucrative than in Ireland) being used by Irish-based companies to entice candidates for specialised roles. There are recruitment shortfalls in all sectors with entry level and mid-level candidates in tightest supply. Overall, salaries are estimated to increase by up to 15%.
Fund administration is a key area that is expected to see a large increase in employment in the coming years as Ireland's importance as a centre for fund administration continues to grow. The regionalisation of the fund administration sector, most recently highlighted by Daiwa announcing that it will open an office in Dundalk that will create 500 jobs over the next five years, is one way that the industry is attempting to combat the problem of candidate shortages by tapping into new labour pools outside of the capital. Fund administrators in Ireland now earn more than their counterparts in Scotland and are beginning to challenge London-based fund administrators on the salary scale. The funds servicing industry enjoyed 15% growth in 2006 and now employs almost 8,500 people in Ireland.
The demand for accountants is still huge and there were salary increases of between 12-15% in 2006, a trend that the survey suggests will continue in 2007. Fund accountants were among the most sought after in 2006 and saw their salary bracket increase from €51-70K in 2005 to €60-100K in 2006. With many fund accountancy roles taking extended periods to fill candidates have obviously been better positioned to negotiate larger salaries. The trend in 2006 saw a very strong demand for newly and recently qualified accountants and this trend looks like continuing throughout 2007. Candidates with Sarbanes-Oxley experience are also highly sought after as companies look to hire experts who can deal with ad-hoc accounting issues to ensure compliance with the SOX legislation. The Accreate survey highlights regulatory accounting as a key area of demand as organisations prepare themselves for the introduction of Basel II in January 2008.
In such a competitive recruitment climate employers have begun offering more competitive and imaginative packages to attract and retain the best staff. These packages don't just concentrate on salary and can often include features to help the employee manage his/her time more affectively with benefits such as flexi-time or on-site creche facilities. Share options are another popular incentive being offered by many employers while others offer gym membership to their employees. |
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