Annually, the total number of jobs advertised online has risen by 7 per cent in Q1 2015 compared with the same quarter in 2014. An increase of 4 per cent in jobs advertised online is reported by the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index for the first quarter January to March 2015 compared with the previous quarter.
According to the Jobs Index, across the economy, one in 10 jobs are in IT; one in 10 in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance; 9 per cent of the jobs are in Sales; 9 per cent are in Hotel and Catering; with approximately 6 per cent in Production and Manufacturing or Customer Service and Call Centres; and with 4 per cent in Retail, and in Science Pharmaceutical and Food.
Increases across jobs sectors January – March 2015
Employers continue to hire across many sectors according to figures revealed by the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index for Q1 2015. An increase in jobs advertised online is recorded for sectors including: Legal, up by 23 per cent; Tourism and Travel, up by 23 per cent; Construction, Architecture and Property, up 12 per cent; Beauty, Haircare and Leisure, up 13 per cent; Medical Professionals and Healthcare, up 10 per cent; Hotel and Catering, up 10 per cent; and Science, Pharmaceuticals and Food, up by 5 per cent.
The annual 7 per cent increase in jobs advertised online was driven in particular by, Production, Manufacturing and Materials, up 169 per cent; Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, up 99 per cent; Tourism, up 46 per cent; Science, Pharmaceuticals and Food, up 37 per cent; and Medical Professionals & Healthcare, up by 34 per cent.
Jobs sectors experiencing a decrease in Q1 2015
The only sizeable declines in first quarter jobs advertised online are evident for Engineering and Utilities, down 12 per cent; Security, down 12 per cent; Social and Not for Profit, down 12 per cent; and Retail, down 5 per cent. Sectors experiencing decreases annually include Hotel and Catering, down 39 per cent; Education, Childcare and Training, down 20 per cent and Customer Services and Call Centres, down by 16 per cent.
Orla Moran, General Manager, IrishJobs.ie comments: “Sustained growth in the Irish economy is evident in the continued quarterly increases in jobs advertised online. The IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index measures total jobs advertised online by direct employers, across all industry sectors, making it the best indicator of hiring activity nationwide. We’ve also been measuring these fluctuations since 2009 so it’s been very interesting to see the rise and fall over the last 6 years.”
University of Limerick economist and author of the report Stephen Kinsella says: “The news is good. While the Irish economy grew by more than 5 per cent in 2014, the Jobs Index reported an increase of 7 per cent in online jobs advertisements including all professional jobs. This quarter sees a rise of 4 per cent in jobs advertised online. The report keeps track of two high-skill, high value add sectors in Ireland. Job advertisements are up both for Medical Professionals and Healthcare and Science, Pharmaceuticals and Food. The strong growth in both of these sectors across 2014 and into 2015 continues to impress.”
He concluded, “Easing of currency markets and in particular the change in the Euro-Dollar relationship should see large changes in demand for Hotel and Catering jobs as well as other changes in the export oriented sides of the economy. The number of visits to Ireland has already risen by 10 per cent between December and February 2015. We look forward to the next IrishJobs.ie report for confirmation of this trend.”
Jobs Market Sentiment Survey
The IrishJobs.ie bi-annual survey on sentiment in the jobs market will be published with the Q2 Jobs Index, for the first half of 2015. The previous jobs market sentiment survey indicated a return of optimism among jobseekers with 50 per cent telling IrishJobs.ie they believe the job market will get better in 2015, 36 per cent, that it may get better and 14 per cent claiming that the job market will not improve. 7 in ten were planning to ask for a raise.
IrishJobs.ie analyses the responses of three groups: employed, job seeking and people in college/training.
IrishJobs.ie publishes a Jobs Market Sentiment survey bi-annually, in tandem with the Jobs Index.
IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index
The Jobs Index is a leading indicator for the jobs market reporting all corporate jobs advertised for the top two recruitment websites in Ireland.
The report looks at all corporate jobs advertised on IrishJobs.ie and Jobs.ie from 01/01/15 to 31/03/15.
Stephen Kinsella is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Limerick. He is the author of Ireland in 2050: How we will be Living and Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis: Prospects for Recovery. His research spans the area of computable economics, health economics, and experimental economics.
Quarter 2, 2009 is the reference month for the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index.
