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Senior economist at global jobs platform Indeed
“We’ve seen a normalisation of hiring demand over the last two years after the post-pandemic frenzy. But opportunities in the market remain relatively plentiful with Irish job postings on Indeed still 15% above pre-Covid-19 levels.
“That means a competitive market for talent, which across many sectors remains the biggest challenge facing employers. We see employers still raising wages to attract new workers, with posted wage growth running at a 4.7% annual rate as of September. That’s 0.6 percentage points faster than it was a year ago, despite the cooling in hiring demand we’ve seen.
“There continues to be considerable variation in the strength of job postings across occupational categories."
Peaks
“Agriculture job postings are down from peaks seen in 2023 but are still pacing strongly at around double the pre-pandemic baseline.
“The most in-demand job titles in recent months have been ecologists, farm hands, farm managers and tree surgeons.
“Workers in these roles are in a strong position to find a new opportunity or bargain for higher pay.”
Senior recruitment consultant, FRS recruitment
“From our experience, the job market in agribusiness has been very slow in 2024 compared to 2023. We believe this is a knock-on effect from the wet spring, coupled with low milk prices earlier in the year and farmers spending less as a result.
“We are finding that employers are more hesitant to release jobs and candidates are more cautious when it comes to moving and considering new roles.
“For those candidates who are considering new roles, their primary focus is on higher salary bands.
“An interesting trend we have noticed is the increased number of employers making counter offers as a means of holding on to talent in a competitive market.
“Our data shows that hiring levels remain subdued compared to pre-pandemic levels. In the past two years, the main trends we have observed are tightness in the labour market, skills shortages and declining availability of flexible work opportunities.
“Overall, the unemployment rate remains low and in many cases hiring levels in various sectors have not recovered, so competition for talent remains high. This is particularly impacted by skills shortages in areas like sustainability, where despite demand from employers, it is hard to secure staff.
“Another key trend is flexible working. Ireland continues to lead in flexible working across Europe, ranking second in hybrid and remote job postings in August of this year. But, similar to international trends, there is an overall decline in availability for these roles.
“For example, using our August job postings data, we can see a -18.5% year-on-year fall in hybrid job postings and a -12.9% year-on-year decline in remote roles advertised.
“Interestingly, while there is a drop in the number of flexible work roles available, demand for these positions continues to outstrip supply."
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