Things aren’t looking so great for employees at the Big Four accountancy firms in Ireland. After KPMG’s revelation that it would not be extending the contracts of qualifying trainees this year, PricewaterhouseCoopers has now announced a 10% cut in salaries for the majority of its staff. Not surprisingly, a lot of them are exploring other options.

PwC employs over 500 people in Ireland and says that the pay cuts are intended to keep redundancies to a minimum, though it acknowledged that some cuts were inevitable going forward.

The firm said in a statement: “We’re not planning widespread redundancies. Where we have surplus capacity and have exhausted all options, we may look to make some individuals’ roles redundant.”

KPMG took on around 250 graduate trainees in Ireland last year, and said that the vast majority were unlikely to have their contracts extended upon qualification.

PwC is also offering reduced working hours to its staff – a move already carried out by KPMG in the UK – as well as incentivised leave for study or travel in order to stave off job cuts.

The job market is being flooded with ex-Big Four candidates, says Ken Harbourne, country manager for financial recruiters Robert Half in Ireland.

“There are a lot of candidates on the market, from both Big Four and top ten firms, and the vast majority of them have had no choice in the matter,” he says.

Martin Fox, consultant in the accounting and finance division at Robert Walters, says: “There’s undoubtedly been an influx of Big Four candidates. However, we’re still seeing good demand for people with experience in insurance and reinsurance, as well as those with special purpose vehicle auditing on their CVs.”

Harbourne adds that there are roles for internal auditors within financial services, as well within restructuring divisions.

“People are looking towards roles in industry, as well as at small and medium sized companies which you would never have seen this time last year,” he says. “However, with so many good candidates on the market, they’re only able to get the opportunities where they have built their experience. Firms are not willing to be flexible.”