Job vacancies across a number of sectors in the Irish market fell for the first time in almost two years, new data from IrishJobs.ie suggested, while there was also a reduction in the number of positions offering remote working opportunities.
The index showed a decline in both quarterly and annual figures, with sectors including hotel and catering, HR and recruitment and retail showing the largest quarterly decline. However, these industries were among the hardest hit by Covid-19 shutdowns, leading to a spike in recruitment when they were allowed to reopen.
Job vacancies are still up by a third on pre-Covid levels, the data showed.
And quarterly increases were seen across graduate, secretarial and admin and science, pharma and food sectors. Year on year, the largest increases were seen in banking, financial services and insurance, and accountancy and finance.
“While you’re seeing yearly declines of 9 per cent and quarterly declines of 4 per cent, it’s very easy to get caught up in that and look at the negatives,” said Orla Moran, general manager of IrishJobs.ie. If I compare the period now to quarter three 2019, we’re up 33 per cent in terms of jobs advertised so it’s still a very robust market out there and there’s still really good opportunities for job seekers.”
The index looks at 31 sectors, with 14 posting year-on-year increases and 15 indicating quarterly increases.
Those sectors that saw their importance grow during Covid stabilised in the latest index and maintained growth. Vacancies in IT were up by 1 per cent year on year, and 7 per cent quarter on quarter. Healthcare vacancies were up 6 per cent year on year.
Positions offering remote work fell 9 per cent quarter on quarter, but the figure was still 20 per cent higher year on year.
“Throughout the Covid period, we’ve seen continued growth in the work from home as a location for obvious reasons. This is the first quarter where we’ve seen where we’ve seen a decline. But if you look at the annual growth, it’s still really strong,” said Ms Moran.
About 10 per cent of vacancies on IrishJobs.ie feature remote or flexible working. Pre Covid, that figure would have been around 1 per cent, she said.
Job seekers are still seeking out roles that offer flexible working, Ms Moran said. “Work from home and remote still feature in the top five most popular searches in terms of keywords,” she said. “It’s very much still at the forefront of jobseekers’ minds.”
