Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of sectors experienced a decline in job vacancies, with an average decrease of 51% in job postings for the wider period of March to June. Within this, Monday, 4 May proved to be the low point for jobs vacancies.  

Of the 31 individual sectors analysed in the latest index, 26 experienced an increase in vacancies in the month of June.

The beauty, haircare, leisure & sport (+206%) sector recorded the largest increase in job vacancies for June followed by marketing (+125%) and hotel and catering (+91%).

During this period,medical professionals and healthcare(+16%), engineering and utilities (+11%), and science, pharmaceutical and food (+10%) were the most active industries, generating the largest portion of job vacancies overall.

Despite an increase in job posting during the period of May to June, overall vacancies still remain 54% below February’s pre-COVID index levels with sectors including tourism, travel and airlines (-100%) continuing to experience the negative impact of COVID-19 restrictions.

Insight

Commenting on the publication of the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index, Orla Moran, General Manager of IrishJobs.ie said:

“The latest IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index is a timely indicator of post lockdown recruitment trends in Ireland. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, job vacancies have declined significantly with the majority of industries experiencing a recruitment freeze, as they navigated through extremely uncertain times.

“One sector that remained active was the medical and healthcare professionals’ group which generated the largest portion of job vacancies during this time. This can in part be attributed to the success of IrishJobs.ie’s support of the HSE’s Covid-19 emergency recruitment drive.

“However, the findings from the latest index signals that the overall employment market is starting to reopen and rebound, with a 14% increase in job postings over the period of May to June.

“When we look at this data in detail, the biggest spike in new vacancies occurred on 30 June – the day after we entered Phase Three of the Government’s roadmap for reopening society and business. The correlation between this spike in activity and the reopening of many businesses across the country reaffirms that we are moving in the right direction, but we must acknowledge that there is still a way to go before we return to pre-COVID recruitment levels.

“As the figures reveal, Irish job vacancy rates remain at 54% below pre-COVID levels. This figure is further compounded by recent IDA Ireland comments suggesting that foreign direct investment will likely slow down over the next two years.

The Government’s July Stimulus Package will be welcomed by employers, particularly supports including the creation of new employment supports to include the extension of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) until April 2021 and a €200 million investment in a retraining and upskilling programme to help those who may have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 pivot into new careers.”

“It’s very positive to see schemes for businesses such as the Restart Grant, which will allow SMEs to draw down funding of between €4,000 and €25,000 to provide an immediate cash injection.

“In addition, new measures including the Apprenticeship Incentivisation Scheme and the JobsPlus Scheme will help incentivise employers to hire many of the under 30s who may have lost their jobs since the onset of Covid-19.”