Project managers in demand

The number of professional job vacancies in Ireland increased by 9 per cent in September compared to the same month a year ago, with project managers among the professions most in demand, according to the Morgan McKinley Ireland monthly employment monitor.

There was a 13 per cent increase in the number of professionals seeking jobs in Ireland in September compared to the same time last year.

“The professional jobs market rebounded strongly throughout September with higher levels of recruitment activity which were balanced by an equivalent level of mobility within the professional workforce,” says Karen O’Flaherty, chief operating officer of Morgan McKinley Ireland, who adds project managers are currently highly sought-after.

“In general, employers have adjusted well to the longer recruitment cycles involved in attracting talent. HR departments have increased their capacities, recruitment forecasting and succession planning have been enhanced and the pace of employer decision-making has accelerated. This overall capability within the market has improved noticeably since the start of the year.

“We are seeing continuing buoyancy in the sciences, aligned to growth in the food industry; financial services, aligned to Brexit, particularly in the fields of risk and compliance management; and data compliance, aligned to the advent of GDPR where there is major demand for data process officers and project managers. ICT remains a powerhouse of the Irish economy, driven by high demand for engineering, cloud computing and digital talent.

‘Sense of confidence’

“There is demand across multiple sectors for professional skills in all main business and operations management functions which reflects an overall sense of confidence across the economy in spite of the various geopolitical and economic issues facing Ireland.

“Indigenous enterprises and SMEs are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity to act around GDPR and the need to upskill and/or hire is intensifying. In view of the current scarcity of data-process-management skills in the market, as this was not a keynote requirement prior to the new regulation, many companies are promoting or transferring current staff into this role as they are more likely to have an immediate awareness of data-processing points within the business.

“This in itself is creating vacancies within the functions that those employees are vacating to take on the GDPR role. There are currently an estimated 75,000 vacancies globally for relevant roles in this area, where skills are in generally short supply.

“In terms of hiring and recruitment activity, Dublin and Cork are still operating at a pace that is somewhat higher than in other regions, however, the gap is narrowing as more and more professional job-seekers specify that they are seeking career opportunities in the regions. Increasingly, multinational and indigenous employers are moving to establish offshoot operations to cater for this need and to fill vacancies more quickly. “