Irish Employers Determined to Continue Hiring in Q3 Despite the Economic Uncertainty
Irish employers anticipate a strong staffing climate during Q3 2023 with a Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of +26 percentage points. Irish hiring managers expect the NEO to strengthen by 4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, but to worsen by 14 points compared to this quarter last year. Ireland ranks in the top half in the region for its employment outlook, 6 points above the regional average.
The Irish labour market remains resilient amid economic uncertainty in the region. Irish hiring managers seem even more confident than last quarter, which is likely due to the country's strong economic outlook and growth prospects. Indeed, the Irish economy outperformed the rest of the eurozone last year and is predicted to continue doing so in 2023, as the country attracts a significant amount of large multinationals.
40% of employers in Ireland are planning on expanding their workforce in Q3 2023. The most popular staffing choice is to keep workforces steady with 45% indicating a static workforce projection for the quarter. A minority of 12% anticipate making redundancies to their workforce.
Hiring managers in all 9 sectors in Ireland anticipate an increase in staffing levels in the third quarter of 2023. Since the second quarter of 2023, hiring environments have strengthened in 5 of 9 sectors, and weakened in 4 sectors. Ireland's most competitive sector is Energy & Utilities with an employment outlook of 60, rising by 33 percentage points since the second quarter of 2023.However, This quarter is the lowest NEO recorded in Ireland’s Consumer Goods & Services sector for 9 quarters, going back to Q2 2021 when it was 7%.
Irish hiring managers in all 5 regions anticipate an increase in staffing levels from July to September 2023. Since the previous quarter, staffing climates have strengthened in 4 of 5 regions, and weakened in one region. The most competitive hiring region in Ireland is the Munster region with a NEO of 38, rising by 8 percentage points since last quarter, but falling by 13 percentage points since this quarter last year.
Irish employers in large organisations with 250+ employees are the most optimistic with a NEO of 40, rising by 10 percentage points since the previous quarter, but falling by 5 percentage points since a year ago. The organisations with the largest increase since Q2 2023 are those with 10-49 employees, reporting a change of 12 percentage points.
