‘Major talent crisis’ means 2 in 3 employees will get salary increases this year – survey

Irish employers believe they’ll have to offer two out of every three employees salary increases to retain talent this year, a survey has found.

The talent leaders pulse survey, by recruiter Sigmar and professional services firm EY, warns that Ireland is heading toward a "major talent crisis" over the next 12 months.

"In a strong economy, with the lowest unemployment rates since 2008, this is an unsurprising result," said Sigmar head of human resources recruitment, Kate Stewart.

While Ms Stewart doesn’t identify how much salaries are likely to increase, she suggests the rate is “likely to be considerably more than the rate of inflation”, noting that one in four positions currently filled in Ireland are as a result of headhunting.

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“It is perhaps possible to draw inference from figures being offered to employees working for a rival company in order to lure them away. This figure is often in the region of a 10 to 15 per cent increase of the current salary,” she said.

Niamh O’Beirne, an EY partner, suggests hiring practices will have to change. “Given the unprecedented pace of change and unpredictability in today’s working world, it is becoming ever more important to hire for mindset and not necessarily skillset.

“In the future, we are going to have jobs we don’t know (about) yet, using technologies we don’t have yet, solving problems that don’t yet exist,” she said.

Some 269 people in senior roles were involved in the survey.