The movement in professional job vacancies in Ireland in the first quarter of 2023 was relatively flat compared to the previous quarter, with a slight increase of 0.86%. However, the number of jobs on offer has almost doubled since December 2022, recovering from the cyclical decrease that the market experiences at the end of every year.
Compared to the same quarter in the previous year, there has been no significant change, with the number of professional jobs coming to market decreasing only marginally by 0.15%.
According to the Morgan McKinley Employment Monitor, an overall increase of 13% in the number of professionals actively seeking new job opportunities between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 was also recorded. More significantly, there are 38% more professionals actively seeking new opportunities than there was a year previously in Q1 2022.
INCREASE IN JOB SEEKERS
The number of professional job seekers has reached the highest monthly level over the last 18 months in March 2023, representing a 16% sequential increase from February 2023, and a 40% increase from the same month of 2022.
The high number of professionals currently seeking employment can be attributed to a delay in those who received redundancy payments last year returning to the job market. Instead, some took time out to reset before putting themselves back on the employment market. Additionally, there is a pool of skilled professionals who have upgraded their skills to pursue better career opportunities in the market.
RETENTION
Salaries have remained stable from the previous quarter. They remain competitive, although employers are less flexible than before to go above the market rate. Employers are now putting more of a focus on retaining good talent, rather than attracting new candidates.
The Morgan McKinley employment monitor measures the pulse of the Irish professional jobs market by tracking the number of new job vacancies and new candidates in the Republic of Ireland each quarter. To reflect the changing dynamics of the current employment market, both permanent and contract jobs are included in the employment monitor.
