August has been a strong summer month for professional job vacancies in Ireland, with an increase from July, and more permanent jobs being created, the new Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor suggests.
The number of professional job vacancies rose by 4pc between July and August this year to 10,120, compared to 9,699 the previous month.
This increase is a real sign of a robust and strengthening professional jobs market, according to Morgan McKinley Ireland chief operations officer Karen O’Flaherty, as August has always been the quietest month of each year.
The number of professional job vacancies in August this year also reflects a 19pc increase from the same month in 2013, from 8,527 to 10,120.
Permanent vs contract positions
What’s more is that jobs being created are both permanent roles (as opposed to contract positions) and situated in new divisions as companies expand, O’Flaherty added.
“These growth plans by firms across all sectors hint at increased confidence in business growth for 2014 and into 2015,” she said.
The growth in jobs has had positive knock-on effects across many disciplines, with support staff and those who deal in back office functions becoming further in demand.
“Job-seekers are finding it possible to gain employment in industries outside of their core disciplines, with accountants finding that their skills are required in tech firms and tech professionals being needed in accounting firms,” said O’Flaherty.
However, there are often differences in salary expectations between job-seekers and those offering positions, particularly in industries such as engineering.
This hinders the hiring firm filling these roles, particularly since many job-seekers are already employed and in high demand, O’Flaherty said.
“To take account of this, all firms looking to hire professionals would benefit from benchmarking salaries and benefits to gauge what candidates are looking for before offering jobs. Those who are failing to do this are the ones who are challenged in trying to source the right talent,” said O’Flaherty.
“With that in mind, across all industries companies are putting resources into retaining as well as attracting talent.”
Better packages on offer
O’Flaherty added that Morgan McKinley has seen an improvement in the packages on offer in accounting and finance compared to less than six months ago.
“This is being replicated in the tech sphere, where there is ongoing demand for niche skills in a number of areas within the web and mobile space,” O’Flaherty added.
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