Salaries for new employees down by as much as 20%

BANK staff saw their pay plunge by as much as 25% last year, with secretaries, engineers and construction workers also being hit.

According to the latest IrishJobs.ie salary survey, the jobs market is now stabilising with more recruitment activity in the last few months. It said benchmark salaries for new employees in most jobs are down by between 5% and 20% since 2008. In the banking sector the average drop in salary has been between 10% and 25%. A head of treasury’s salary has dropped from €180,000 in 2008 to €135,000 in 2010, while a credit analyst’s pay is down from €55,000 in 2008 to €42,000 in 2010.

A head of compliance saw no change in their salary, maintaining the same levels seen in 2008, up to €120,000. Marketing manager with IrishJobs.ie Valerie Sorohan said: “For the past 12 months we have been hearing anecdotally of employee salary reductions in most industries.