Retail demand drives new transport and supply chain jobs

TRANSPORT, storage and manufacturing accounted for one-third of all the new jobs created in Ireland over the past year, according to a new report from Savills Ireland.

A total of 19,500 jobs were generated in these sectors between September 2015 and September 2016 out of total jobs growth of 57,500, leading to increased capacity utilisation at all stages in the logistical supply-chain, said John McCartney, Savills’ director of research.

“The rate at which goods are being moved through the economy continues to increase and we see the evidence of this all around us – traffic through Dublin Port is on the up, the number of new goods vehicles being registered has risen by more than 25pc. We also see strong demand for logistics and warehousing space.”

“Approximately 302,000 sq m of industrial space was taken-up by occupiers in 2016 and, while this represents a year-on-year decline on the 2015 record, it remains one of the strongest years ever. Clearly this is being driven by the continued recovery of the domestic retail sector and the knock-on requirement to supply shops with goods,” said McCartney.

Meanwhile, Savills said Irish manufacturing has proved resilient in the face of Brexit.

“Paradoxically, although Brexit appears to be weighing on industrial output, goods exports to the UK have continued to rise as stocks of finished goods have been run down. Moreover, looking ahead, recent survey evidence suggests manufacturing orders have rebounded sharply since their post-Brexit slowdown”.