DUBLIN: The latest Morgan McKinley Ireland Employment monitor has been released today. The 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. It shows that the number of professional job vacancies available in May 2017 increased by 15% nationally compared to April. There was an increase of 16% in the number of professionals seeking new roles in May compared to April 2017 and a 6% growth when compared to the same time a year ago. Morgan McKinley claim this reflects an upswing following the Easter break and the continuing drop in Ireland’s unemployment rate. The recruitment consultancy firm believes the figures support estimates that the jobless rate could dip below 6% by the end of this year. The monitor indicates that despite Brexit a lot of financial services companies are not prepared to commit to large recruitment plans, rather opting to fill positions ensuring they are meeting any extra demands instead of pre-emptively hiring in large numbers.
Increased merger and acquisition activity is likely as accountancy practice firms look to scale to capture more market share. This is particularly prevalent among smaller firms, who are looking to expand their staff, expertise, service offering and as a consequence, market share. There is strong demand for recently qualified accountants, tax consultants and candidates with between two and three years of experience looking to specialise in more niche areas. Furthermore, the IT sector is a continuing growth area for recruitment with strong demand for both permanent and contract candidates. Brexit has resulted in a steady influx of strong candidates in the contract IT sector who are moving from the UK to Ireland in search of more market certainty. Commenting on the monitor, Operations Director at Morgan McKinley Ireland, Bryan Hyland said, “This month’s figures are indicative of a very active month following a flat period so we expect this type of uplift. While it’s too early to say if this is a trend that will continue, if it does then it will support estimates that Ireland’s unemployment rate could dip below 6% by the end of the year.”
