Financially, the outlook at Allied Irish Banks could barely be bleaker, with the bank last week reporting a pre-tax loss of €2.66bn (2.4bn) for 2009 and a tripling of its bad debts.

Yet, while managing director Colm Doherty has been bullish about continuing “aggressive cost-cutting”, recruiters are divided as to whether this well mean massive job losses on top of the 1,600 jobs that have already gone at the bank.

“The feeling seems to be that, rather than massive redundancies, we may be looking at more use of natural wastage, so no internal promotions, people not being replaced or being asked to take on extra responsibility without any extra salary, that sort of thing,” says one recruiter.

This by and large tallies with what Doherty outlined to staff back in December when, along with cancelling the Christmas party and cutting down on stationery, he said there would be no pay rises this year and that further “tough decisions” would be needed to reduce costs.

Others, though, are less upbeat. “We have not yet seen any large-scale redundancies at AIB but what we are picking up at relatively senior levels is that there may be going to be some big cuts still to come,” says another recruiter.

“AIB still has a relatively extensive branch network and is quite top-heavy with administrative and retail staff and so, along with these areas, I suspect we might see redundancies in business development and front-facing areas such as lending. But for the moment it is very much a case of wait and see,” adds the recruiter.

But the good news for any people who are let go is that the jobs market in Ireland is beginning to show signs of life again, at least at middle and more senior manager levels, suggests Fintan Lawler at recruitment firm Hudson.

“We are starting to see banks being more likely to follow through after interviews and completing the hire. A lot of banks are starting to hire in some of their vital areas, so positions such as lending manager, business analyst, risk manager and compliance manager,” he says.

“For more junior-level candidates, however, it is still quite a bleak market, and for general back office positions the market remains quite poor,” he adds.