Official figures indicate that there were just 380 redundancies within the banking, finance and insurance sectors in Ireland since the beginning of this year, so why are people applying for a job in McDonalds?

Statistics from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment suggest things aren’t that bad in the financial sector, with just 151 people losing their job in February and 380 in 2009.

However, the Irish Examiner reports that a new branch of McDonalds in Clare has received applications from desperate bankers and accountants.

“We have had applications from bankers, accountants and architects to work at the Ennis outlet. I had to do a double take on the CVs. It’s no joke,” said the McDonalds franchisee Kieran McDermott.

Most unemployed bankers aren’t that despondent, says David Hannon, former manager at Deloitte executive search who now runs Ely search and placement.

“If they’ve been out of work for six months or more, I know of people who have tried to move into the public sector, industry or academia. However, those recently unemployed or under threat of redundancy are actively seeking other financial services roles,” he says.

Paul Mullen, director of Irish career advisory firm Measurability, stresses the importance of exploring all avenues of job seeking, whether that be exploiting contacts, networking or unsolicited applications before looking to other industries.

“Obviously, there’s the temptation to simply target a new income stream, but you have to consider the long-term implications on your CV,” he says.

Things obviously aren’t as clear-cut as the DETE figures suggest. For instance, Allied Irish Bank, which reported its 2008 results this week, said it had reduced personnel costs by 10% in Ireland due “reduced staff numbers and variable compensation”.

National Irish Bank cut back on contractors, RBS is chopping 750 people by closing its First Active brand, KPMG plans to reduce its Irish workforce by 200 and the likes of Citigroup, State Street and Merrill Lynch are rumoured to be making redundancies in Ireland.

Hannon adds: “Rationalisation is being done in a way that’s not a wholesale programme, and is performed incrementally so it often goes under the radar. If you make two or three high earners redundant a month, it goes unnoticed, but is a big cost saving for the company.”