The second quarter of the year delivered encouraging signs for Ireland’s employment marketplace, maintaining a consistent level of vacancies as compared to the preceding three months. This marks the first time since 2022 that the quarterly job vacancies did not witness a dip, with advancements in 19 sectors. However, according to IrishJobs’ latest data, year-on-year figures indicated moderating growth with a 25% drop in advertised jobs versus the corresponding period in 2023.
The prevalence of entirely remote positions also experienced nearly a 25% reduction, suggesting an ongoing decrease in full-time homeworking in Ireland in 2024. On a three-monthly basis, increases were observed in various sectors including health, catering, retail, property, logistics, skilled trades, as well as other primarily local industries.
Specifically, changes in the health sector’s job vacancies showed a 5% surge, which can likely be attributed to the recent lifting of recruitment halting at the Health Service Executive, potentially escalating the demand for staff. Despite the job cuts seen in previous years, the IT sector continued to have a high count of vacancies. However, over the last three months, the IT industry saw a 2% quarter-on-quarter reduction, with the most sought-after roles being automation, software, and security engineers.
While the construction segment witnessed a 4% drop in advertised vacancies, it still held a significant portion of the job market, making up 4.76% of total job advertisements. The locally-based and indigenous exporter sections experienced diminishing vacancy numbers due to manufacturing and science sectors’ quarterly declines, suggesting ongoing global economic factors hindering hiring activities.
Sam Dooley, country director at Stepstone Group Ireland responsible for IrishJobs, described the jobs market as showing stability and steady growth after a long phase of intense fluctuation. He is hopeful for more consistency in vacancy rates in the near future. He also highlighted that sectors centred on domestic activity are faring better than internationally traded sectors, like manufacturing and science. This national-level advancement may result from an increase in real income amongst residents, with heightened wages and decreasing inflation allowing for enhanced discretionary spending leading to service-led growth in the local economy.
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