Key points for selected business and financial occupations
- There were approximately 157,000 persons employed in the selected business and financial occupations, representing just over 6% of Ireland‘s workforce
- Approximately 44% of total employment in these occupations was in financial, insurance and real estate activities; an additional 17% was in professional, scientific and technical activities (mostly in legal and accounting services)
- Almost 40% of total employment was in financial administrative occupations (primarily bank and post office clerks), while 30% was in professional occupations (primarily accountants and tax experts), while just over 20% was in associate professional occupations and the remainder was in managerial occupations
- While overall employment in business and financial occupations grew very modestly over the period 2007-2011 ― at 0.4% on average annually (a net 2,500 additional jobs), employment in some occupations grew strongly over that period ― financial accounts managers; HR managers; and management consultants, business analysts and business/finance project managers grew by between 8% and 10% on average annually; the largest number of jobs was created for these occupations
- Over the period 2010-2011, however, overall employment in the selected occupations contracted by 6%, resulting in 10,300 net job losses; most of the job losses were for accountants and tax experts and financial administrative occupations (mostly for bank and post office clerks)
- Over two fifths of the overall workforce of business and financial occupations was aged 25-54
- Over 90% of the overall workforce of professionals held third level qualifications, while the share was approximately 75% for both the overall workforce of associate professionals and managerial occupations; in contrast, 44% of the overall workforce of administrative occupations held third level qualifications
- The overall workforce of both HR managers and financial administrative occupations was predominantly female
Shortage Indicators
Despite the announced job losses (e.g. Ulster Bank, TSB, EBS, AIB, etc.), some shortages of financial skills continue to exist, with over 300 employment permits issued for various financial and business experts in 2011. Skills difficult to source include:
- professionals in credit and risk management (e.g. risk analysts, credit specialists, actuaries)
- compliance experts (financial services regulation and compliance with Basel Accords, especially BASEL II and III)
- accountants with experience in corporate solvency and financial restructuring
- specialists in insurance business (underwriting and claims handling)
- business professionals and associate professionals with sophisticated business skills mixes (e.g. IT know-how and communication systems expertise in applications such as SAP, ORACLE and other Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems)
- financial managers (e.g. client relationship managers in investment banking).
The demand for high level financial skills, particularly in the area of risk and compliance, is expected to be driven by the continued restructuring and reform of the banking sector, with some expansion also expected in international financial services (as evidenced in the IDA job announcements for 2011). |
