Drop in number of job vacancies as market ‘stabilises’

The number of job vacancies on recruitment platform IrishJobs dropped 28pc in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2023.

A new report from IrishJobs attributed the decline to an ongoing stabilisation of the jobs market in Ireland following a surge in demand for talent over the pandemic.

Job vacancies were down 3pc on a quarterly basis, the lowest fall in six successive quarters, according to the employment website’s jobs index.

However, both the construction and property sectors recorded a rise in demand for new staff in the first three months of 2024.

New construction vacancies jumped 20pc in the period compared with the final three months of 2023. Engineering and property vacancies rose 11pc and 10pc respectively.

The report found that the most frequently posted job openings by employers so far this year were linked to quantity surveyor positions.

Facilities coordinators, facilities managers and facilities engineers were also highly sought-after in the first three months of the year.

“The construction sector in particular registered a quarterly increase in job vacancies over the past three months – a sign of continuing demand for talent to develop the residential property needed to meet Ireland’s future housing needs,” Sam Dooley, country director of The Stepstone Group Ireland, IrishJobs’ parent firm, said.

Overall, the education sector recorded the highest level of vacancies in Ireland compared with the previous quarter.

This was particularly evident for third-level institutions, with UCD, Munster Technological University and South East Technological University among those searching for assistant professors and lecturers.

This demand was also reflected in the area of childcare, with the number of vacancies for early years educators rising so far this year.

While the number of IT jobs fell 8pc in the period, the sector accounted for 5.5pc of all new jobs advertised in the quarter.

IrishJobs pointed to a “rebalancing” of the sector following extreme pandemic growth and consequent slowdown.

The number of remote roles dropped 10pc in the first three months of this year, with the rate of decline faster than that of overall vacancies.

The report attributed this slowdown to an overall reduction of homeworking in Ireland.