Despite this, according to Irish jobs, potential candidates may still hold the balance of power in talent acquisition and the overall labour market.
Remote and flexible working has, in a sense, levelled the playing field when it comes to accessing the wider world of work. Previously, employees affected by health conditions, carer obligations or other restrictive life circumstances may have found that their careers were put on hold, in order to prioritise other aspects of their lives.
Alternative working models have given employees a degree of balance and the confidence to explore their career opportunities, without pulling them away from their other duties. So, unsurprisingly, flexible arrangements have emerged as an overwhelmingly important and in some cases, expected, benefit for potential candidates looking to start in a new role.
However, despite the popularity of remote working and the stabilisation of figures related to hybrid options, the IrishJobs Index for Q4 2024 shows that the numbers around fully remote working positions are close to the lowest levels since 2019. In fact, fully remote vacancies have fallen by more than 80pc since the record highs of 2022 and now stand proportionally at only 2.3pc of total vacancies.
According to the report, “these findings indicate that fully remote work vacancies will remain stable at a relatively low, near pre-pandemic, level across 2025 and beyond.”
Paving the way
Unlike the figures around fully remote working, hybrid vacancies remain stable quarter-to-quarter, averaging between 10pc and 12pc roughly, which means that this form of employment is likely to be a substantial feature of the Irish labour market going forward.
However, according to the report, tracking this metric and offering key insights will be crucial to determining if candidates truly hold the balance of power in the global talent market. Particularly as more and more large scale organisations and institutions, for example Amazon and Dell, enforce back to the office mandates, despite employee protestations.
Commenting on the results of the report, Sam Dooley, the country director of the Stepstone Group Ireland, with responsibility for IrishJobs, stated, “with unemployment close to record lows and many employers navigating a highly competitive market for talent, incorporating hybrid working can create a more attractive offering for potential talent.
“IrishJobs research shows that nearly half of jobseekers would be willing to turn down opportunities that do not provide hybrid or fully remote working options.”
Alongside catering and other hospitality roles, management, customer service, health and sales, were the top five sectors making up the largest number of vacancies. For the second successive quarter, amid a rise in construction and infrastructure related activity, the construction sector overtook IT (5pc), accounting for the sixth largest source of jobs vacancies.
“The engineering sector generated a similar proportion of job vacancies (5pc) as the IT sector, indicating the importance of interrelated sectors in supporting construction activity.”
Regional and international opportunity
Regionally, counties Mayo (22pc), Kerry (14pc) and Monaghan (12pc) were found to have the highest increase in vacancies across the last three months, offering roles in project engineering, customer assistance and healthcare, however, regions with larger cities, such as Dublin, Galway, Cork, Limerick and Waterford, experienced quarterly vacancy decreases.
The report found that the growing political tensions and shifting international trade environment has led to a hesitant attitude towards hiring and industry uncertainty. Domestic sectors remain strong, while internationally traded sectors, such as IT and manufacturing appear to be adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach to short-term hiring.
“Other internationally traded sectors such as Finance ( -11pc) and Science (-17pc) have posted significant quarterly vacancy decreases, indicating these sectors may be entering a period of retrenchment.”
According to Dooley, “elevated geopolitical and economic uncertainty, particularly around the emergence of a more protectionist global trading landscape, is triggering a cautious sentiment among many businesses in Ireland. This is clearly reflected in the findings from the IrishJobs Q4 Jobs Index which reveal a 9pc fall in job vacancies as many firms take a “wait and see” approach to hiring.
“Findings show that quarterly vacancy generation remains strong across sectors associated with the domestic economy including construction, travel and media. It is expected that domestic sectors will continue to be strong generators of new vacancies in 2025 as strong domestic consumption fuelled by slowing inflation, low unemployment and reduced interest rates continues.”
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