Global bank’s hiring freeze puts new Dublin jobs on ice

PART of a jobs expansion announced just weeks ago by Deutsche Bank in Dublin is on hold after the embattled bank imposed a worldwide hiring freeze.

Last month the bank announced plans to create 165 jobs in Dublin. That included recruiting a staff of 40 for a new data lab and filling 125 new technology and operation roles. But the plan has fallen foul of the hiring freeze.

A spokesman for Deutsche Bank told the Irish Independent that some of the new roles in Dublin will be filled, including jobs classed as critical to the business or where candidates had already accepted offers.

However, further roles linked to the planned expansion are now not due to be advertised in the immediate future, he said.

Deutsche Bank has frozen global hiring for new posts as it seeks to rein in costs amid investor fears that a pending US fine could cripple the bank.

The German lender sent managers a memorandum about the freeze on Wednesday, Reuters reported, adding that this would not apply to the compliance department which ensures staff abide by the law.

The hold on hiring is the latest in a series of responses by management to a crisis of confidence that has come to a head with the prospect of a multi-billion-dollar legal penalty.

Worries a fine of that size would be difficult for Deutsche to absorb have sent its shares to a historic low, prompting speculation that Berlin could be forced to help a bank, whose returns have already slumped to zero.

An organisational change, launched in October last year aimed to slash costs by cutting 9,000 staff, overheads and selling off some non-core businesses. A year on, headcount is in fact higher. (Additional reporting Reuters)