An analysis of Indeed jobs suggests more than 15pc of Irish job postings at the start of 2024 offered remote or hybrid options, beating countries such as Germany and France.
While some companies are pushing for a return to the office, recent results from Indeed suggest Ireland is beating various European countries and the US when it comes to remote-working opportunities.
An analysis of job postings suggests the popularity of remote work and the willingness from many employers to offer it remain at a high level after the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis looked at job postings from 13 European countries.
This report claimed that at the end of January 2024, 15.4pc of Irish jobs postings contained a reference to either remote or hybrid working. This ranks Ireland ahead of many other European countries, including Germany at 14.9pc, Switzerland at 10.5pc and France at 9.6pc.
Poland featured the highest proportion of remote ads at 21.6pc, followed by Spain (18.7pc), Austria (18.1pc) and the UK, which came just above Ireland at 16.1pc.
The report claimed that although a number of large and high-profile companies have sought to restrict or reduce remote-working arrangements, the proportion of job offers that included this form of flexibility has remained strong across most job categories.
There is also evidence that remote working has remained resilient in Ireland since the Covid-19 pandemic. While the share percentage for Ireland is down slightly from a peak of 18.4pc recorded in April 2021, it is still above the 14.7pc average that has been recorded since the start of 2021. The percentage of remote or hybrid job offers is also above the average of 11.0pc that was recorded at the start of 2019.
Software and IT takes the lead
An analysis of the Irish data shows that more than 40pc of software development ads offer remote or hybrid working options, closely followed by IT operations and helpdesk jobs.
Mathematics, media and communications and arts and entertainment categories were next, making up the top five job categories offering remote or hybrid work. Banking and finance, civil engineering, marketing, insurance and legal rounded out the top 10.
Indeed senior economist Jack Kennedy said there was doubt around whether remote working would remain in place post-pandemic, but “our findings show it is still a significant part of modern labour markets”.
“While some employers have found remote or hybrid working an effective way to offer more flexibility to staff without compromising output, others have expressed dissatisfaction with the organisational and managerial challenges it creates,” Kennedy said. “In a tight labour market, however, many employers believe that it can help attract the right talent for the right roles in industries and job categories where it is possible to offer it.
“Such a high level of remote or hybrid working has all sorts of implications and knock-on impacts, which we are beginning to realise. City centres, for example, are experiencing a reduction in footfall that has affected service businesses while companies are assessing their office needs.”
In June 2023, a report from LinkedIn suggested Ireland had one of the highest shares of hybrid jobs in Europe, but that fully remote jobs were beginning to decline. Meanwhile, a survey by Hays Ireland earlier this year suggests that 38pc of employers are planning to mandate workers’ presence more in the workplace.
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