Morgan McKinley Monthly Employment Monitor Infographic is now available here
Highlights Overall
- The number of professional job vacancies increased by 4% between July and August this year (10,120 compared to 9,699).
- There was a 19% increase in vacancies in August this year compared to the same month in 2013 (8,527 to 10,120).
- The numbers of professionals seeking jobs in August 2014 (8,930) is up on the same month last year by 9% (8,230) but, as would be expected down on July 2014 (9,500).
Further Insights
- Jobs created are new and permanent: Importantly the growth in jobs is being driven by permanent roles that are being created as firms expand.
- Salary expectations differ: In some industries there are significant differences in salary expectations between candidates and firms.
- Market intelligence is all important: Companies that are not using market intelligence to gauge what to offer candidates are losing out in hiring staff.
Traditionally considered a quieter month for recruitment, August was a record summer month for professional job vacancies with the numbers available actually increasing on the previous month according to the Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor for July 2014
The 4% rise in the number of jobs available between July and August is a real sign of improvement according to Morgan McKinley Ireland Chief Operations Officer, Karen O’Flaherty as the latter has always been the quietest of each year:
“As July was itself a strong month for recruitment, the unprecedented increase in job vacancies for August is proof of a robust and strengthening professional jobs market. Further evidence of this is seen in the fact that the number of vacancies is almost a fifth higher in August 2014 compared to the previous year.
“However, most heartening is the fact that the jobs being created are both permanent roles (as opposed to contract positions) and situated in new divisions as companies expand. These growth plans by firms across all sectors hint at increased confidence in business growth for 2014 and into 2015. We are seeing entire new divisions being formed and staffed by new teams and these expanded service offerings obviously bode well for the future.
“As previous iterations of the Employment Monitor have noted, the growth in jobs has had positive knock-on effects across many disciplines with support staff and those who deal in back office functions becoming further in demand. Job seekers are finding it possible to gain employment in industries outside of their core disciplines with accountants finding that their skills are required in tech firms and tech professionals being needed in accounting firms.
“However, there are often significant differences in salary expectations between job seekers and those offering positions, particularly in industries such as engineering. This hinders the hiring firm filling these roles, particularly since many job seekers are already in employment and in high demand. To take account of this, all firms looking to hire professionals would benefit from benchmarking salaries and benefits to gauge what candidates are looking for before offering jobs. Those who are failing to do this are the ones who are challenged in trying to source the right talent.
“With that in mind, across all industries companies are putting resources into retaining as well as attracting talent. In accounting and finance we are seeing an improvement in the packages on offer compared to less than six months ago. This is being replicated in the tech sphere where there is ongoing demand for niche skills in a number of areas within the web and mobile space.”
View the August Employment Monitor Infographic here
