Jobs market roars back to life after pandemic slump
...but now, work-life balance is equal to salary
THE jobs market has bounced back from the pandemic, with almost a fifth more vacancies now than before Covid struck.
As well as a surge in jobs, more people are looking to switch jobs too – but only if the conditions are right.
People are now looking for a better work-life balance and many will take a position if it means they can work at home for all or part of the week, a study by irishjobs.ie has found.
Irishjobs.ie’s general manager Orla Moran described the jobs growth as ‘absolutely fantastic’. ‘When I received the figures, my first question was “how does it compare to 2019?” The analysts looked and it was up 19%,’ she said.
‘What Covid has done is bring in additional wants from a job-seeker’s perspective. It may no longer be about the salary, it will certainly be about the work-life balance.’
She said: ‘People will say: “If my employer doesn’t give me two days a week working from home then I’m definitely going to move, regardless of the package”.
‘You’ll see more around the work-life balance now. You could be offered a lower salary somewhere else but they may give you more time working from home. And that means less childcare costs, less transport costs, more time with your family. So people are weighing up their priorities and it isn’t always financial. Covid has taught a lot of people, there’s more to life than work, work, work,’ she said.
The jobs site’s data reveal the employment market has experienced a resurgence, with overall job postings up 40% between the first three months of the year and the second three months.
This marks a year-on-year increase of 157% when compared to the throes of the first Covid lockdown.
However, more meaningfully, the index also shows that the level of job vacancies generated in April, May and June this year was 19% higher compared to pre-Covid levels in the same months of 2019.
Of the 30 jobs sectors analysed, 21 sectors have posted both quarterly and year-onyear increases in job vacancy creation in the second quarter of the year.
Work-from-home vacancies continue their strong rise, increasing by 77% during the second quarter of this year.
However, vacancies dropped by 60% at the start of Covid in March last year.
Ms Moran said: ‘Pent-up demand throughout Covid is transforming into active jobs.’
There is little desire for a 100% return to the office, but staff do not want to work solely from home either.
Most companies now offer new employees a ‘hybrid’ model of working both in the office and at home.
The largest sector for vacancies is banking and financial services followed by science and pharma and then tech and engineering.
‘There’s more to life than work’