Job vacancies lift off in most parts of economy and across all counties

The number of vacancies in most parts of the economy and across all counties is higher than before the pandemic, meaning "good news" for jobseekers and a headache for employers, according to IrishJobs.ie.

The jobs site said vacancies were 42% higher in the three months to the end of September compared with the same quarter in 2019. Many types of businesses posted a sharp rise in vacancies, including jobs that require working from home, as well as in tourism, travel, airlines, construction, architecture, property, and sales.  

Across 30 sectors, 24 recorded quarterly increases in vacancies and 19 had more vacancies than before the pandemic. However, some businesses still have lower vacancy numbers than before 2019, according to Jobs.ie.     

It said vacancies in hotel and catering, beauty, hair care, leisure, sport, production, manufacturing, and materials are still below the 2019 level.

"These figures are strong and ultimately good news for Irish employees and the economy," said general manager Orla Moran. 

Far from experiencing a long-term deficit of jobs because of the pandemic, as many predicted, we actually have a huge number of vacancies nationwide.” 

The Irish figures go some way to matching the experiences across the world as many industries struggle to recruit even as the global economy and supply chains have hit bottlenecks to keep up with recovery from the pandemic. 

In the US, economists call the phenomenon "the Great Resignation" as millions of Americans quit jobs because new opportunities have opened up after the Covid crisis. In Ireland, some commentators have focused on the 97,000 people who are relying on the lower amounts available under the pandemic unemployment payments, or PUP, even though, at 320,000, there are over three times more people who require the employment wage subsidy scheme (EWSS).

Decline in revenues

Separately, Grant Thornton said the recovery was uneven with many businesses reporting difficulties in hiring skilled staff and predicting a decline in revenues. The hit to revenue was despite the Government having extended EWSS, "and a better-than-expected rebound forecasted in the wider economy in the second half of the year", said Grant Thornton.

Meanwhile, Capital Economics said across many developed economies there is a large increase in vacancies in cleaning and sanitation and loading and stocking. 

"Job postings are weakest in those customer-facing sectors which were hardest hit by lockdowns, including hospitality and tourism and beauty and wellness," said its global economist Ariane Curtis, referring to data from jobs site Indeed.  

"The data also point to some country-specific labour shortages. For example, job postings in HR and software development have soared in the US, Canada, and Australia — where they are all at least 80% above their pre-pandemic levels — but are not particularly high in Europe," the economist said. "And job postings for driving are the highest in the UK and US, which chimes with recent reports of driver shortages in both countries.’’

Reporting: The Irish Examiner