Leading hiring platform IrishJobs has today published new data that reveals professionals in the IT sector earned the highest average salary in Ireland in 2024.
According to the research, full-time employees in Ireland earned a mean gross salary of €46,791 in 2024. Ireland compares positively to other European economies, with a median salary in the UK of £35,648 (€42,377) and €45,800 in Germany. The research is based on an analysis of salaries and benefits for the most commonly posted jobs across a wide range of sectors undertaken by hiring platforms in The Stepstone Group in Ireland, the UK and Germany.
Findings show that the IT sector had the highest average mean salary at €69,050. This was followed by Construction (€63,502), Finance (€63,165) and Engineering (€59,808). Employees in the Legal sector had an average salary of €56,232. Professionals working in Cleaning related occupations (€27,719) earned the lowest average salary, followed by Catering (€31,322) and Security (€33,629).
Regional data
The data shows regional differences in annual salaries across Ireland. Dublin is the county with the highest annual average salary at €48,343, indicating its continued strength as a national hub for enterprise activity and highly skilled labour.
There is a strong performance from counties in Munster. Limerick has the second-highest annual average salary (€46,011), powered by its thriving manufacturing, life sciences, healthcare, and technology sectors, while Cork (€45,232) has the third-highest average annual salary. The average annual salary in Galway is €43,679.
Top occupations
Findings revealed that Head of Finance (€90,798) roles were paid the highest average salary in Ireland in 2024. This was closely followed by Senior Quantity Surveyors (€90,207), who posted
an average 7.55% increase in salary Year-on-Year. This indicates the high levels of demand for skilled professionals in the construction sector over the past 12 months. Recent data published by IrishJobs showed that 7 in 10 of the most in-demand roles in 2024 were in construction and related sectors and included Quantity surveyors, Site managers and Site engineers.
Roles in the pharmaceutical and IT sector made up the remaining five most highly paid professions and included Supervising pharmacist (€89,373), Scrum master (€86,641) and Senior software engineers (€84,076). Automation engineers in the IT sector were among the professions to experience the highest average increase in salary Y-o-Y (15.1%) due to accelerating demand among employers for AI skills.
Employee benefits
The research revealed an occupational pension is the most common benefit provided to employees in Ireland on top of their base salary. Free parking, the cycle-to-work scheme, career development, and flexible hours make up the top five most common benefits for employees.
In the IT sector, an occupational pension, free parking, and remote working were the top three benefits provided by employers, while in the construction sector, an occupational pension, free parking, and overtime were the typical benefits received by employees.
Commenting on the release of the findings, Sam Dooley, Country Director of The Stepstone Group Ireland with responsibility for IrishJobs, said: “With unemployment levels forecast to remain low through 2025, employers in Ireland look set to navigate a competitive labour market in the months ahead. Against this backdrop, IrishJobs’ analysis of data on the salaries and benefits of job postings in 2024 provides an insight into how employers are adapting their talent offerings as they seek to attract and retain high-calibre talent.
Our findings showed that professionals in the IT sector were among the most highly paid in Ireland last year. Despite a fall in job vacancy generation in the sector in 2024, the levels of compensation in the sector indicate that highly skilled IT professionals remain in strong demand. As the AI transformation accelerates and more firms look to build out their AI capabilities, we expect this competition for a limited pool of highly skilled professionals to grow at pace.
With many employers struggling to keep pace with demands for higher wages, enhancing employee benefits can help employers develop a compelling proposition for talent without breaking the bank. Our findings showed that an occupational pension plan was the top benefit in 2024 for professionals in Ireland. With the introduction of pension auto-enrolment on the horizon this year, it provides an important opportunity for employers without a company scheme to consider whether they need to adapt their own pension offering to streamline potential complexities and meet the evolving needs of talent.”
For more information, visit: https://www.irishjobs.ie/.
