27th May 2009 “Monitoring the pulse of the Irish professional jobs market” Hiring activity significantly down on last year but Ireland’s professional jobs market shows signs of steadying Ireland’s leading recruitment consultancy, Premier Group, publishes its first monthly Irish Employment Monitor, measuring the pulse of the Irish professional jobs market by tracking new job vacancies and candidate availability.
Number of professionals looking for work continues to outweigh available jobs coming onto the market each month During April 09, there were 70% fewer new professional job vacancies in Ireland compared to April 08, signalling how contracted the recruitment market is compared to 12 months ago. However, this number did increase slightly from March 09 to April 09, registering a 6% rise in new job vacancies over this period. This was the second consecutive month-on-month increase this year.
The number of Irish professionals who began their search for a new role during April 09 fell by 51% compared with the same month the previous year (April 08) and 29% versus March 09. This fall can be attributed to a large proportion of professionals choosing to remain in their current role rather than voluntarily enter such a competitive jobs market. The volume of candidates continued to heavily outweigh the amount of available roles coming onto the market and as a result, competition between individuals for those roles remains highly competitive. Highlights
The number of new professional job vacancies which became available in the Irish market during April 09 fell by 70% versus the same month a year ago (April 08)
However, this was an increase of 6% compared with the previous month (March 09); the second consecutive month-on-month increase this year
The number of Irish professionals who began their search for a new role was down 51% on the same month the previous year (April 08) and 29% versus March 09 as worries about the health of the economy deterred people from changing jobs. Brian Murphy, Managing Director of Premier Group in Ireland comments: “Premier Group is excited to launch its first Irish Employment Monitor which will measure the pulse of the professional jobs market by tracking the number of new permanent job vacancies and candidates coming onto the Irish market each month. Over time, this regular monthly research will combine to create a unique insight into job and candidate trends for the professional jobs market in Ireland.
“Needless to say, the past 12 months have been very challenging for employment in general across Ireland. Obviously, recruitment activity within the professional space is still at significantly reduced levels compared with a year ago however, the steep decline in job volumes, which was apparent during the second half of last year, appears to have steadied over the past few months. Perhaps this is a sign that some semblance of confidence is slowly being restored to the professional jobs market but, given the volatility experienced last year, we will have to wait and see how things pan out.
“The sizeable gap between the number of new candidates and vacancies highlights that the jobs market for professionals in Ireland is still extremely competitive. Currently, confidence levels amongst candidates is so low that those individuals who feel they have job security are choosing to stay where they are rather than enter into a difficult market. It certainly remains a wait-and-see situation.”
Premier Group currently publishes a similar monitor in London under its subsidiary brand name, Morgan McKinley. The highly regarded Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor was launched |