The news follows a warning about losses of similar positions in the City of London. A report last week by the Centre for Economics and Business Research said the City would lose up to 6,500 jobs by next year, mainly in structured finance, hedge funds, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity.

"What we are likely to see as we enter 2008 is a reduction of almost one for every two jobs added this year, " said one of the report's authors, Sarah Bloomfield.

Dublin recruitment firms specialising in finance have told the Sunday Tribune that recent market turbulence has caused a sharp slowdown in recruitment for people who deal with asset-backed and debt securities, an area where Dublin enjoys a world-leading position. With thousands of job losses already mooted in London, there are concerns that banks and the lawyers, accountants and consultants who support them could be facing cuts, too.

One Dublin-based securities firm, for instance, reported a flood of CVs coming in from Irish-based international banks involved in the debt securities business, suggesting those institutions are preparing to shed staff.

Recruiters are generally optimistic about the long term and point to continuing shortage in certain kinds of financial services professionals, but some admit that hiring has slowed considerably since the securitisation markets seized up in August.

"There have not been any job losses within the market but without doubt the degree of recruitment within the structured credit area was significantly greater 12 months ago, " said James Hayes, banking and financial services manager with recruiter Robert Walters.

The securitisation business has suffered worldwide in the wake of the collapse in US subprime lending as both buyers and packagers of debt have become wary of operating in the market.

THE Irish Stock Exchange - a top-three location for debt securities listings . . . has suffered a dramatic drop in this kind of business since the end of July, when the subprime problems began to affect investors' appetite .

Some of the biggest subprime related losses were recorded by Dublin-based debt securities vehicles, including Ormond Quay, a funding conduit run by German bank Sachsen LB that had to take a 17bn rescue package from the German savings banks association.

The job worries in Ireland don't extend throughout the entire financial services industry, however, where a number of firms have reported vacancies or plans to expand. In fact, the labour market in banking is so tight at the moment that wage inflation is running at just under 11%, roughly twice the general wage inflation level across all sectors.

"As a general rule, financial services is very buoyant, " said Lutrecia Tippett, regional director of Premier, a recruitment agency specialising in the financial sector.

"There may be some slowdown in hiring, but no job losses are forecast right now."