US-owned Citibank, the biggest employer at Dublin's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), is confident it will meet its job target of 2,000 staff but has warned that higher PRSI costs will make its task more difficult.
Chief executive Mr Aidan Brady said the abolition of the PRSI ceiling for employers in the Budget was a "big mistake" as the Government had added to the operating costs of large employers at a time when they were braced for global economic slowdown.
"Ireland has to stay competitive. The PRSI increases will translate into higher operating costs at a time when every organisation is looking at zero cost increases from one year to the next," he told The Irish Times. "Employers' costs and the cost of living in Dublin are now about 30 per cent more expensive than Barcelona, for instance, something which competing job-creation agencies are not slow to point out."
Shares in Citibank's parent, Citigroup, have endured some of the biggest losses during the current bout of volatility with concerns about a financial crisis in the Japanese banking sector further depressing financial stocks.
Citibank employs 1,500 at its IFSC headquarters, which was opened by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Citigroup chairman and chief executive Mr Sandy Weill last September.
Around 20 associated businesses within Citigroup operate beside each other at the IFSC with back-office administration and processing for Citibank's fund management and banking activities throughout Europe accounting for the huge increase in the firm's job numbers.
Mr Brady said job numbers would rise and fall across these various businesses as Citigroup re-evaluated its operations. But he was confident there was sufficient growth potential within the Dublin business to support further growth in job numbers. "We will have bad days but we will fill this building."
Last October 230 staff working at Citibank's Diner's Club processing centre were put on notice that the business would be sold to the Italian GTB group, with these processing functions expected to be transferred to Italy. The business will be gradually wound down from now until January 2002 but there will be no compulsory redundancies.
"Staff will be released from Diner's Club on a phased basis so we can accommodate people who want to stay at Citibank," Mr Brady said. A few of the 400 jobs at its security services business will also be transferred to the UK in response to client needs, with the Dublin division continuing to service the entire European market.
Citibank, like other employers, has experienced a huge staff turnover in recent years, giving it scope to provide opportunities for displaced staff. The key challenge for Citibank now is to achieve a better balance of jobs in Dublin that will help to retain staff and provide greater security for the entire workforce.
