HR market overview and salary guide 2018

Businesses embracing HR strategy again to future-proof their business

Not since pre-recession times has the Dublin HR jobs market been this strong. The rest of the country is feeling a more gradual pace of job growth, while some niche areas like training and development and talent acquisition are seeing a marked increase. In the capital, it’s a positive landscape for both HR graduates and returning expats, who are being snapped up at the moment.

Talent management, organisational development, retention and employee engagement are increasingly appearing on job descriptions – from HR business partner level upwards.There is currently a big focus on HR strategy. In a strong economy for businesses to compete, their people strategy is key to enabling them to retain employees and out-perform their competitors.

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Trends in Ireland’s HR market in 2018

Senior roles: The volume of senior vacancies and the salaries they are commanding is steadily increasing. However, due to a lack of these roles during the recession, there are multiple candidates applying for these jobs so competition can be fierce. At the senior end, there has been a steady increase in jobs offering between €70,000 and €90,000.

Graduates getting jobs again: Gone are the days when you needed a minimum of two internships to get a look in at a junior HR role. Not to say that all graduates are walking into their desired job after college, but there are significantly fewer barriers. Any relevant internships are still an advantage. The key for graduates is to promote their abilities with technology and systems and the flexibility to do the grunt work.

Temps: HR teams are busy and under pressure. They come under pressure during holiday periods, recruitment ramp-ups and project implementations in particular. As a result, HR teams are taking on temps to ease the burden. Any duration between two weeks and three months is the typical temp time period, with many rolling on beyond this.

Availability for contracts: There are far fewer people readily available for a contract role. So it is becoming increasingly challenging to get cover for maternity and sick leaves. This means your lead-in time to hire needs to be longer and you need to pay a premium and consider a completion bonus to retain the employee for the duration of the contract.

Public sector opportunities: With public sector employment opening up, there are considerably more permanent and longer-term contracts available. Previous public sector HR experience will mean you are well-placed to look for jobs within the public sector, semi-State and similar industries.

Offers: The companies who are securing 'acceptances' are being smart. They have quick processes, ensure they are selling the job to the candidates and are frequently offering a package above candidates' salary expectations. In a jobs market where most candidates are securing at least two job offers, the candidate needs to be clear on the reason to choose you. A high offer may reduce the risk of a candidate pursuing additional processes and close out the process smoothly and quickly.

Top five most in-demand jobs

• HR business partner
• In-house recruiter
• HR administrators
• Organisational development
• Learning and development

Top five most in-demand skills

• Recruitment in tech/software sales
• HR process improvement and project work
• HR business partnering (senior level)
• OD/change management
• HR graduates with internships in MNCs

SALARY GUIDE 2018