One of Ireland’s leading recruitment firms says it believes the jobs market for professionals is at its most buoyant in two decades as the anticipated return of workers to offices has sparked a surge in people choosing to change jobs.
Sigmar Recruitment, which has offices in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Athlone and Tralee, says its placement records from April to June show “more people moved jobs than in any other quarter over the last 20 years” that it has been in operation. It says the number of job moves was 6 per cent ahead of the same period in 2019.
The company said May “broke all records” for monthly performance, with last month in second place. Sigmar said about one-third of the job moves it had seen were in the buoyant IT sector.
The majority of roles – three-quarters, according to Sigmar – are permanent positions, which the company said was a departure from previous recoveries, which typically have been led at first by a resurgence in temporary roles.
Sigmar said the majority of hires in the second quarter were for remote roles, but employers were now beginning to request an office presence as hybrid working models are on the rise.
Robert Mac Giolla Phádraig, a director of Sigmar, said the pre-pandemic office-based working model was like “living with” an employer”, while the working from home model was like “a long distance relationship, which often sees commitment recede over time”.
“We’re seeing several macro trends converge all at once, which is creating significant churn in the market,” said Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig.
“Remote working has literally opened up a world of new opportunity no longer bound by location. This is coupled with a rising tide of consumer confidence as many professionals find themselves in a stronger financial position than before the pandemic.
“Employee loyalty is increasingly under question – with remote work being less enjoyable, many workers are now committed to the experience of work over the employer, adding further to the current levels of churn.”
Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig said “retaining workers rather than attracting them is now emerging as the number one challenge for businesses”.
