The Irish job market remains very strong

Data from the Central Statistics Office shows that Ireland’s unemployment rate dropped to 4% in January 2025, a number which confirms that the country’s economy remains close to full employment.

This means that there are plenty of job openings for people looking for work.

However, the data gives no insight into either the quality of the jobs available or the sectors with the best opportunities.

The main vacancy advertising portals, Indeed and IrishJobs, have both reported a similar trend in 2024. They say that the overall level of vacancies advertised during the year has fallen.

This trend of fewer vacancies posted has been in place since the post-pandemic peak in early 2022. However, despite the drop, the number of vacancies advertised remains well above the pre-pandemic level.

The IrishJobs jobs index for the final quarter of 2024 shows some interesting trends on what is currently being advertised.

It is notable that 10.7% of positions offer hybrid-working opportunities, while fully remote is at 2.3%. Before the pandemic hybrid working was almost unheard of.

However, with levels relatively stable – between 10% and 12% of positions advertised since 2022 are hybrid– it seems these types of roles are here to stay.

The sectors

Of the positions offered, one of the biggest growth areas is in construction – a trend set to continue as pressure on the Government to deliver housing and infrastructure remains.

Overall, the highest numbers of vacancies were advertised in the catering sector, traditionally dominated by lower-paid positions where less experience is required.

Customer service, management, health and sales positions are also in demand.

There is a clear trend in place for growth in jobs which service the Irish economy. It is a different story in the internationally traded sector, with advertised vacancies in manufacturing and IT posting modest declines.

Finance and science vacancies dropped by more than 10% in the last three months of 2024.

The internationally traded sector is traditionally where the highest-paid positions are available, so a drop there could be worrying if the trend were to continue.

A slowdown in finance, IT and science would be driven by international developments – particularly Trump’s economic policies – rather than any factor in Ireland. Should he, for example, try to force US companies to relocate more functions back to the America, Ireland could be hit hard.

The good news is that Ireland’s economy remains very strong so even if the international sector does come under pressure, there still should be plenty of jobs available here.

It just might mean those positions will be in sectors like healthcare, construction and services rather than in IT, pharmaceutical and finance.