Professional job vacancies up 24% compared to same month last year

By @SimonCocking

Morgan McKinley Monthly Employment Monitor Infographic is now here 

Highlights:

• Professional job vacancies up 24% on January 2014 demonstrating continued growth in the economy

• A 18% decrease in the number of professionals seeking new positions, compared to the same month last year, indicating less volumes seeking professional roles as market stabilises

• A month-on-month increase of 31% in job availability in January 2015 compared to December 2014, reflecting an expected, but still enthusiastic start to hiring in the new year

Further Insights:

Increase in corporate finance activity has led to a growing demand for specialists across M&A, Corporate Treasury and Structured Finance who are ACA, ACCA or CFA qualified. A potential skills gap emerging due to lack of activity in this area over recent years where focus has been on risk, compliance and recovery.

The ICT sector remains buoyant particularly in the area of business intelligence, data analysis and development. A high demand for client facing IT people indicating a renewed sales and client development focus in the sector.

Increased requirement for HR specialists in the areas of learning and development, employee engagement and performance management, reflecting a growing focus on retention and succession planning strategies within organisations.

Cautious recovery continues in the construction sector particularly within commercial and industrial expansion and development projects.

The number of professional job vacancies in January 2015 was up by 24% compared to the same month last year according to the January 2015 Morgan McKinley Ireland Employment Monitor. The Monitor recorded a 31% increase in job availability in January 2015 compared to December 2014, reflecting a confident start to hiring in the new year.

Morgan McKinley Ireland Operations Director, Bryan Hyland, commented:

“It is early in the year but indications are that companies remain confident and optimistic in their hiring outlook, with an increasingly long term view on their hiring plans. As the economy continues its shift from recovery to growth, the skills required to consolidate and drive this growth across all sectors are in focus.

In financial services, the increase in corporate activity is leading to a growing demand for specialists across M&A, corporate treasury and structured finance who are ACA, ACCA or CFA qualified.  While in retail banking commercial lending, insurance, sales and operations are all growth areas.

The ICT sector nationally remains buoyant and demand for permanent and contract professionals particularly for developers with experience in programming languages such as Java, .Net and UI. Another area of growth is for professionals with client facing skills which is a result of a greater focus on business expansion and sales in 2015.

Within the HR sector we are seeing a strategic focus on long term talent and development planning, with increasing demand for specialists in performance management, employee engagement and retention.

The construction sector continues to recover steadily, with hiring activity primarily in the commercial and industrial sector which are offering temporary and fixed term contract positions reflecting the cautiousness that’s still in place in this industry.

Chart 1: Professional jobs

Chart 2: Professional seeking new roles

About the Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor

The Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor (previously known as the Premier Group Irish Employment Monitor) measures the pulse of the Irish professional jobs market by tracking the number of new job vacancies and new candidates within the Republic of Ireland each month. See www.morganmckinley.ie for details.