The digital recruitment agency expects e-commerce and e-learning sectors to grow, accelerated by the impacts of Covid-19.
Irish digital hiring agency Prosperity Recruitment has said that the e-learning and e-commerce job sectors will continue to expand, despite recruitment across the board having “slowed significantly” for the moment.
The agency cited data from LinkedIn that showed an increase of 26pc in the number of people working in online retail across Europe over the past 12 months. In Ireland, it said, there has been an increase of 21pc.
The agency predicted a “new sense of urgency” in online retail based on SMEs pivoting to online engagement and transactions. Supermarkets, for example, have already seen growing demand for e-commerce professionals, increasing their online retail staff by 67pc in the past year, it said.
Other areas on a similar trajectory include e-learning (up 60pc), translation and localisation (up 55pc) and information services (up 50pc).
Prosperity managing director Gary Mullan said: “Looking at current data, overall trends and the ongoing needs of our clients, we believe job opportunities in these areas will gain pace over the next couple of months.”
The impacts of Covid-19 restrictions have accelerated this growth, Prosperity added.
The agency shared data from marketing company Wolfgang Digital, showing that traffic to online retailers in Ireland grew by 68pc between 12 and 19 April when compared to pre-Covid-19 levels. Furthermore, online revenues were found to be up 185pc. Wolfgang marked this as one of the “busiest ever weeks for online retailers”.
“Despite the current climate of uncertainty, all the signs indicate that online retail and e-learning are somewhat protected,” Mullan added. “In fact, many e-commerce businesses have seen significant growth as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“With this in mind, the recruiters here at Prosperity expect to see continued demand for skilled professionals in these areas.”
E-commerce salaries
In January, Prosperity published insights into salaries in the digital sector in Ireland, highlighting increased demand for e-commerce skills. Head of e-commerce roles, for example, were listed by the company as one of the top-paying digital roles.
“While demand for these skills was already strong, the current pandemic has only accelerated the transition to a digital economy,” said Mullan. “As society normalises, we foresee a continued and increasing urgency for businesses to develop their online presence, whether this requires implementing an e-commerce function or providing learning resources online.
“In this sense, the crisis will prove to be truly transformative to the Irish and global economies.”
Job opportunities
Prosperity also said that candidates with digital skills who have been let go can consider looking for new opportunities in sectors such as online retail. Post-Covid-19, the agency said, we can expect a “rapid return to full employment for specialists in e-commerce, digital design, web development, data and digital marketing”. This will likely be followed, it added, by a shortage of digital candidates for one or two years.
“Established e-commerce sellers are set up for growth and as others get started, demand for the relevant skills will only increase,” said Mullan.
“Though hiring has generally slowed because of the pandemic, we have had clients contacting us about candidates that can help with their online retail operations.”
