The jobs market in Ireland seems buoyant, as the latest Morgan McKinley employment monitor reports there is a 2% year on year rise in professionals registering for professional opportunities, though this does represent a 20% decline from November to December.
In ICT, the market is being driven by the perennials of development, with Java and .Net developers remaining the most sought after professionals.
“There has been a notable push by employers to employ IT candidates on a permanent basis, and matching the premium for a contractor has been a successful practise utilised by some organisations,” said the monitor.
A record level of FDI announcements in the second half of 2016 is ensuring a knock-on effect in the demand for professional services talent across Legal, Tax, and Accountancy, the monitor reports.
Across all areas of Supply Chain, the monitor noted an increased demand for Level 8 qualifications, coupled with a greater need for IT literacy and the ability to communicate across all levels of a business.
Another notable trend in the monitor was that professional candidates continuing to return home, mainly from Australia, the UAE, Canada and the UK. The latest migrant talent is returning with mergers and acquisitions (M&A), change management, project management, engineering and accounting experience. Due to the success of the IDA’s regional development strategy, said the monitor, there has been a greater number registering interest for comparable career opportunities in the regions.
“With most hiring occurring between September and November the decline in vacancies in December 2016 is seasonal and expected,” said Trayc Keevans, director, Inward Investment, Morgan McKinley Ireland, “but a record level of FDI job announcements in 2016 saw an increased demand for professional services driving recruitment activity particularly among legal, tax and accountancy professionals.”
“There is very high demand for candidates with strong experience in highly regulated environments, due to ongoing changes to Central Bank and EU regulations. Employers are now seeking more specialist expertise to manage the effective implementations of the new Regulatory Frameworks, however given their early stage, there is a limited pool of talent with relevant technical understanding, early adopter and implementation experience.
“The most active sectors nationally this month were Professional Services, Pharma and Technology/IT. We can see already, that 2017 will be an interesting year for IT contractors. The market is pushing towards permanent hires representing a more cost effective and better retention option than contract hires.
“Concurrently, we are seeing IT job seekers themselves leaning towards longer term employment opportunities where benefit packages that include share options representing a significant factor in their decision making. This has turned heads for some “career” IT contractors due to the potential financial rewards.
“However, there is still a skills shortage in software development resulting in a continued demand for IT contract professionals for the foreseeable future,” said Keevans.
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