Job opportunities abound in buoyant economy

Squint your eyes and it could be the Celtic Tiger all over again, such is the level of job opportunity. “The market is very buoyant at the moment. Full employment is variously estimated as when a country reaches a 5 per cent or 5.5 per cent unemployment rate, and Ireland is currently at 6 per cent, so we are getting there,” says Mike McDonagh of Hayes Ireland.

Another clear indication of that is the fact the recovery has finally extended to the regions. “Of course, we have seen a huge change in fortunes in Dublin since the downturn but tellingly we are also seeing enormous growth in our offices in Cork, Galway and Limerick too. And yes, it is multinationals in these areas that are recruiting, but so too are SMEs. Overall, the picture is very positive,” says McDonagh.

This in turn is encouraging expats to come home. “Over the past two or three years we’ve been talking about skills shortages in Ireland but in sectors like construction and property we are now starting to see people come home. This is great because the sector was hit particularly hard in the recession so not alone did people not want to study subjects related to construction and property, but those who already had the skills emigrated to the UK, Australia, Canada and the Middle East – so it had a double whammy.”

For those who went to the UK, the weakening of sterling has reduced the value of the salary premium that construction industry workers traditionally gained by working there. “It’s not completely gone but the advantage has been reduced. On top of that, demographics are playing in Ireland’s favour; many of those who emigrated are now at a stage in life where they want to come home and start families,” says McDonagh.

They are bringing great skills home with them, such as Revit, which is in particular demand in engineering and architecture. “It’s akin to what happened to Ireland in the 1990s when all these people came back from around the world with new skills that helped to take Ireland to another level in terms of the Celtic tiger,” says McDonagh.

Brexit is not just encouraging Irish expats to come home, but is making Ireland of growing interest to some other EU nationals – and even UK nationals – currently working in the UK. Donal O'Brien's recruitment firm Abrivia has seen job applications from UK candidates go up by 19 per cent .

“Talent moves at a quicker pace than companies due to scale but many companies are beginning to signal their intention to move to Dublin. Ireland and Dublin not only hold the accolade of being the most business-friendly country in the EU, but Dublin will be the only English-speaking capital based in the EU post-Brexit,” he says.

Returning emigrants

In the past 12 months, the number of returning emigrants on Abrivia’s database increased by 68 per cent. They have good reason to come. According to a recruitment survey by Hays Ireland, almost three quarters (74 per cent) of employers plan on recruiting staff over the next 12 months, with a similar amount (75 per cent) identifying a shortage of suitable candidates as their top challenge.

In the past 12 months, Hays Ireland found a fifth of employers had raised their workforce’s salaries by more than 5 per cent. One quarter had implemented raises of between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent , while just under one third (31 per cent) increased them by less than 2.5 per cent. One quarter said salaries remained static in 2017.

In terms of sectors, Hays Ireland believes competition for the strongest accountancy and finance professionals will increase in 2018 as SMEs and indigenous PLCs continue to grow alongside the multinationals. The outlook for banking, fund administration and asset management professionals is bright too, with demand continuing to outstrip supply. In 2017, this brought about the first notable increase in remuneration packages for many years in this sector.

The shortening supply of candidates is encouraging employers to invest more in HR, to help with engagement and, crucially, retention. Hays Ireland reports a rise in HR professionals being recruited, something not seen since before the recession. Demand for expertise in training, learning and development, compensation and benefits, employee relations and specialised recruitment is on the rise.

Office-support roles are resurgent too as the economy improves, while the outlook in the procurement and supply chain sector is “extremely positive” for 2018, it says.

Demand will continue to outstrip supply in the dedicated information technology sector, but IT activity will increase across financial services, public services and utilities too as digital continues to ‘eat everything’ in its path. This includes marketing: people with strong SEO, social-media and web-development skills will remain in high demand, says Hays.

And there are great opportunities in life sciences too, from biopharma to medtech. As one lecturer at the University of Limerick put it: "Right now you can't get a chemical engineer for love nor money".

Company culture

Employers are having to up their game to retain good people, particularly in relation to corporate culture. "One of the clearest trends we are seeing is that people are now very keen to work for organisations whose values are aligned with their own," says Susan Kilty, people partner at accountancy firm PwC.

“One of the things we as an employer have to do in response is be very clear about articulating our culture externally. It’s one of the reasons, for example, that we went after, and achieved, the Business Working Responsibly mark from Business in the Community. We see it as a valuable external validation of who we are as an organisation.”

New research from Robert Walters, a recruitment agency, indicates that 70 per cent of professionals have left a job due to poor company culture. The same amount say they felt misled about company culture at their induction. Some 53 per cent felt the overall environment did not match the job description and 51 per cent felt misled over opportunities for career progression.

“Competition for the best professionals is fierce and employers are keen to promote the best aspects of their company culture to secure the best professionals. However, employers should consider the importance of being transparent regarding the realities of working for their company,” cautions Louise Campbell, managing director of Robert Walters Ireland.

“Ultimately, securing a highly skilled professional who does not remain with the company for long can be detrimental, impacting the bottom line and potentially having a negative impact on their co-workers as well.”