Press Release

Growth in Jobs in the first Quarter of 2012.

IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index reveals turnaround with 4 per cent increase in number of jobs advertised online in the first quarter 2012

Production, manufacturing, materials (+82%)

Science, Pharmaceuticals and Food (+52%)

Banking and Finance (+30%)

Engineering and utilities (+22%)

Education, childcare, training (+19%)

Hotel and Catering (+13%)

The IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index for the first quarter 2012 reveals a significant turnaround with the total number of jobs advertised online increasing by 4 per cent. This follows a six-month decreasing trend in the previous two quarters.

The increase in online job vacancies is driven by certain sectors achieving large gains and indicates a slight upturn into 2012.

The IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index reports that sectors experiencing a decline in Q1 2012 compared with the previous quarter are: Telecoms (-55 per cent); Transport and Motor (-24 per cent); Legal (-14 per cent); Marketing (-14 per cent), Publishing (-12 per cent) and Retailing, Wholesaling and Purchasing (-11 per cent).

The IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index measures the number of jobs advertised online across the main recruitment websites in Ireland, and is a leading indicator of jobs market trends in Ireland.

Dr Stephen Kinsella, University of Limerick and author of the report commented:

"The jobs picture overall is reasonably positive especially when considered in the context of an unemployment rate of above 14 per cent in Ireland. The IrishJobs.ie index is a good leading indicator of the state of the Irish labour market, because it gives a sense of how employers are expecting the future to look like."

Dr Kinsella refers to the fact that demand is down in the Irish economy, commenting that: "People simply aren’t buying. The report looks at final domestic demand (private consumption, investment, government expenditure all combined), in Ireland from 2007 to 2010, and shows that the drop in demand over that period is about -26 per cent. The IrishJobs.ie index results should be understood in this context. The decline reported in earlier reports has largely arrested, with a +4 per cent increase in jobs advertised over the quarter."

Rebound in specific sectors

First, relative to the index quarter, Q2, 2009, there have been some impressive gains in almost all areas except construction, beauty, and security and related services. This reflects the low point Q2 2009 represented for the Irish economy, and the contraction of the construction and related sectors like environment, health and safety thereafter.

Second, relative to the same quarter last year, more modest gains have been made in areas like Education and Childcare and General Management. Declines are evident in Public Sector hiring, Publishing, Retail, and Telecoms, as well as Transport and Motor sectors.

Hotel and Catering is a key sector for Ireland’s recovery. Not only is tourism an enormous part of Ireland’s economy, Hotel and Catering is highly labour intensive, meaning an increase in demand for tourism services will lead to a sharp reduction in unemployment levels. The IrishJobs.ie report highlights vacancies for Hotel and Catering work, and we can clearly see the seasonal pattern of work in evidence. However, for the next season demand for workers is stronger relative to the previous quarter (+13%). The IrishJobs.ie report will keep a keen eye on this crucial advertisements figure for Hotel and Catering in the coming months.

Spotlight: Jobs in Ireland’s cities and counties

Relative to the second quarter of 2010, jobs in Dublin are showing a marked increase over time, but a sharp downturn relative to the last quarter. In comparison to Dublin, jobs in Cork and Galway are surging ahead, while jobs in Limerick have fallen consistently and are consistently lower in absolute numbers than the other cities. Overall it is a mixed picture for Ireland’s cities, with some experiencing large increases, and others, sustained declines.

The IrishJobs.ie report looks at all corporate jobs advertised on IrishJobs.ie and Jobs.ie between 1/01/12 and 31/03/12.

Quarter 2, 2009 is the reference month for the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index.

Read more of Dr Kinsella’s report here.

About Stephen Kinsella

Stephen Kinsella, the author of our quarterly report is a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Limerick. He is the author of Ireland in 2050: How we will be Living and Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis: Prospects for Recovery. His research spans the area of computable economics, health economics, and experimental economics.

For more information visit www.stephenkinsella.net.

About the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index

The IrishJobs.ie jobs index monitors live and current jobs advertised by companies across the main recruitment websites in Ireland on a weekly basis, thereby providing a broad and comprehensive overview of the Irish market. Data from April 2009 provides the benchmark for the Index. Data is compared to the Index, the previous quarter and also the same quarter the previous year. The IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index measures not only the number of jobs available but also how individual sectors and counties are performing. In effect, it can give a yearly snapshot of the economy.