Insights on Financial Recruitment and Jobs in Ireland 2017

The Ireland Market Insights Report covers the following areas within Dublin. Click below to view salaries:

• Commerce & Industry
• Fund Services
• IMI & Banking
• Professional Services

Commerce & Industry

The sustained strengthening of the Irish economy last year meant that demand often outstripped supply. Because of this, salaries continued to rise whether you were a part qualified, newly qualified or experienced accountant with a number of years’ post qualified experience. As the economy has grown, so have the number of opportunities in SMEs and indigenous Irish companies, both listed and privately owned.

Fund Services

2016 was another year of positive growth for the Irish funds market. Annual data from the Central Bank revealed that assets in Irish domiciled funds ended the year at a record €2.1 trillion, with the industry now employing more than 14,000 people across the country. Ireland remains a very popular location for alternative investment funds, with hedge funds remaining strong and accounting for 40% of all hedge funds globally. 2016 also saw a significant rise in the growth of private equity funds, with numerous businesses substantially increasing headcount specifically to deal with this trend.

Outside Dublin, areas like Limerick, Galway and Cork continue to grow as attractive locations for new and existing fund administrators, offering lower property costs and access to skilled university graduates, as well as subsidised government contributions to salaries.

IMI & Banking

Ongoing regulation resulted in more hiring activity across both permanent and fixed term contracts in 2016 and candidates with experience in regulation were sought after. Overall elite candidates within banking, insurance and investment management were in demand. Economic growth and an increase in the government’s PR efforts resulted in higher volumes of Irish finance professionals that were living and working abroad returning to Ireland. These candidates are desirable due to their availability and variety of experience with different accounting standards and regulatory environments.

Professional Services

The practice market remained buoyant throughout 2016, with most of the larger firms actively seeking to add to their headcount across the board. As the economy strengthens and Brexit fears subside, the trend continues this year with activity from the Top 10 trickling down to small and medium sized firms.

Practice continues to be a candidate driven market.Increased competition for talent has created a fluid environment whereby it’s relatively easy for professionals to move from smaller practices to larger ones. Newly qualified accountants with a practice background remain in high demand because many of them make the move into industry or financial services; as such strong candidates choosing to remain in practice find themselves with multiple offers.

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