Professional job growth in Ireland last month was up almost 50pc on December 2013, making for a hugely successful 2014, Morgan McKinley’s latest Irish Employment Monitor suggests.
The most significant increase in year-on-year job creation since 2008 also took place in 2014, according to the report.
Life sciences and pharma were particularly impressive areas for job creation last year, with SMEs also actively hiring.
The recruitment consultancy’s Irish Employment Monitor now anticipates a more competitive candidate-led jobs market for those with specialist skills in 2015.
Overall there was an uplift in 2014 in the number of people returning to Ireland for work, primarily due to family considerations. Many returning professionals were willing to take a reduced remuneration package (relative to the market they were leaving) to facilitate their return.
“The December edition of the Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor confirms that job creation for professionals has continued to grow steeply in 2014,” said Karen O’Flaherty, COO at Morgan McKinley.
“Life sciences and pharma were particularly dynamic sectors, with students and recently qualified graduates in high demand. This was underlined by the significant investment in this area announced last week by Enterprise Ireland and its partners, indicating the potential that this sector holds for the economy.
“There was a strong demand in 2014 for candidates with multilingual skills, in particular Nordic, German, Dutch, Russian, Arabic and Hebrew. This reflects the growing presence of EMEA organisations whose HQ are based (in Ireland),” O’Flaherty added.
“We anticipate renewed confidence and activity in hiring from existing and new employers in 2015.”
Job growth image via Shutterstock
