Ireland Bucks Trend Of Jobseeker ‘Fatigue’ In Europe

New data published by LinkedIn has revealed that despite Europe showing lower levels of hiring and signs of candidate fatigue in major markets, the Irish jobs market remains competitive. Trends in LinkedIn’s December jobs data illustrated the candidate fatigue in Europe, with applications per jobseeker falling, with the largest drops in activity recorded in the United Kingdom (down -7.9% YoY), France (-5.7% YoY), and Germany (-3.7% YoY).

In contrast, Ireland saw a +2.4% year-on-year rise in applications per candidate. An applicant’s network is becoming more important than ever, with LinkedIn data showing that applicants are 3.6× more likely to get hired if connected to an employee at the organisation they are applying for a role at.

Ireland A Magnet For AI Talent

LinkedIn’s latest data also showed signs of how the global labour market is evolving as a result of AI becoming more prevalent in the workplace and broader industry trends. In the near term, AI is creating more jobs globally than it is replacing. In the past two years, employers across the world have created at least 1.3 million “new collar” AI-related job opportunities, including data annotators, AI engineers, and forward-deployed engineers.

Demand for AI talent is outstripping supply in Ireland, with the country becoming a net importer of skilled workers. AI engineering talent is 8x more likely to move across borders than the average LinkedIn member. The LinkedIn data showed a +2.2 net increase in net migration of AI engineering talent (per 10k members) to Ireland, placing Ireland second in terms of net beneficiaries globally. The UAE (+4.2) was the biggest AI talent magnet globally, with the top five rounded out by Germany (+2.1), Australia (+1.5) and Singapore (+1.2).

Finding The Talent For “New Collar” Jobs

Many “new collar” jobs did not exist five years ago, and demand for talent outstrips supply. Organisations having the greatest success in filling their AI talent bench are those that are upskilling existing staff. Skills, not degrees, are becoming the differentiator. Companies can grow their internal AI-capable talent pipeline 8.2× by focusing on skills over job titles or degrees. Interest in AI skills among employees is there, as demonstrated by the time spent on AI-related learning courses on LinkedIn, accelerating over the past year.

Commenting on the data, LinkedIn Ireland Country Manager Cara O’Leary said: “While many European countries are showing clear signs of jobseeker fatigue, Ireland is moving in the opposite direction. At a time when applications per candidate are falling in the likes of Germany and the UK, Irish jobseekers are switched on and still confident of finding their next role regardless of economic uncertainty.”

“Our data shows who you know is just as important as what you know, with candidates significantly more likely to be hired when they know someone at the organisation, reinforcing the importance of relationships alongside experience. For employers, this highlights the growing influence of their own people in attracting talent, with referral schemes one option to incentivise staff.”

“Demand for ‘new collar’ jobs continues to outpace supply, but Ireland is proving to be an AI talent magnet, successfully attracting more AI engineers to these shores than those departing. Given that many of these jobs simply didn’t exist five years ago, with the pipeline from the education system playing catch-up as a result, companies need to realise that upskilling is the solution. We have never seen higher levels of interest in AI content on LinkedIn, so people are clearly eager to learn. It is in employers’ best interests to give their workforce the opportunity if they are to seize a competitive advantage.”