Hiring rate exceeds pre-pandemic levels, survey shows

The hiring rate in the Irish jobs market has bounced back and now exceeds pre-pandemic levels.

That is according to a new survey on the labour market by IDA Ireland, in partnership with Microsoft and LinkedIn, which also showed the number of remote working jobs being advertised has also grown.

The fourth quarterly Labour Market Pulse, which looked at activity between July and September, revealed a rapid recovery in the jobs market across most sectors, with the hiring rate exceeding the same period in 2019 by 15 per cent for two of the three months.

The survey also showed interest levels in positions offering remote work opportunities tripled in a year, with one in seven job ads offering the option to work from outside the office. The top three industries for remote positions are software and IT services, corporate services and financial services.

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Independent research commissioned by LinkedIn for the survey showed 71 per cent of executives planned to hire extra staff in the coming six months to drive growth, while 79 per cent plan to invest in digital transformation to support new ways of working.

Trends

IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan said the Labour Market Pulse serves as a useful tool to gather information about ongoing trends in Ireland's labour market. "The future of work, fast-tracked by a year-long remote working experiment, is prompting a reassessment of where people work. The increase in remote working opportunities allows employers to tap into the talent base across all regions of Ireland."

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar welcomed the research findings on remote working. "It's clear that employers are recognising the benefits of making it permanent, with such an increase in remote job postings," he said.

“I hope this continues and the Government is putting in place the infrastructure, policies and laws to facilitate that. I’m also heartened to see such a high proportion of executives planning to hire over the next six months, I know this is only a snapshot of the overall labour market but it is encouraging to see.”