By Business & Finance 
Professional job vacancies in Ireland are down 12% year-on-year for July, or 24% compared to June 2017, according to the Morgan McKinley Monthly Employment Monitor.
The number of professionals seeking jobs in Ireland is up 5% on last year. The ICT sector “remains continually buoyant” according to the survey, with strong demand in engineering, supply chain, financial services, business administration/services, and human resources.
“There are currently fewer professional jobs coming onto the market; however, we have seen a much busier period of recruitment in the first half of 2017 than in any year previously since the economic crisis, so some level of seasonality is now to be expected,” said Trayc Keevans, director of inward investment at Morgan McKinley Ireland.
“In a very competitive market for talent acquisition, we are also seeing an elongation of hiring timelines including an increase in assertiveness by employers where there is a trend of counter offers being made to retain employees. This is predominantly for critical functions in the ICT and financial services industries. Employers are also deliberately enhancing their career progression, succession planning and employee retention strategies.”
Keevans also noted that FDI sentiment towards Ireland remains uncertain despite policy uncertainty in the US, but infrastructure such as housing and rental availability remain key concerns.
“After a near decade of contraction, the pace of economic recovery is such that there are a range of pressure points which could impinge on our competitive progress,” she said.
“The Government’s proposed new Ireland 2040 spatial strategy anticipates that the population will grow by 750,000 over the next two decades. Developments must be dispersed throughout urban centres across Ireland, and not just Dublin, including the encouragement of multinational investment and employment in the regions.”
