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IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index for fourth quarter 2011 shows marked shift in performance of jobs categories

Q4 2011 Jobs Index shows decrease in total number of jobs advertised
Jobs in IT and technology related industries continue to experience large increases in demand particularly in urban areas like Dublin, Cork and Galway
Sectors down are Construction, Architecture & Property, Beauty, Hair Care, Leisure and Sport and Retailing, Wholesaling & Purchasing.

Ireland, Monday January 9th 2012: The IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index for the fourth quarter 2011 reports that the total number of jobs advertised online is down from the previous quarter. The falling number of jobs for the Services and Construction sectors persists. Picking up the structural shift in the Irish economy towards job creation in the export and high tech sectors, the Jobs Index shows that jobs in IT and technology related industries continue to experience large increases in demand particularly in urban areas like Dublin, Cork and Galway.

The 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, author of the report comments: “Just below 200,000 people have now been unemployed for more than a year. With so much apparent doom and gloom, where are the jobs in Ireland and where are they likely to come from? The short answer is technology. The Jobs Index figures for the stronger jobs categories reflect the IDA’s recent announcement of 13,000 new jobs created across 148 investments in export oriented and high technology companies.”

He continued: “Once demand for job advertisements begins to fall it is a sign that employers are operating more cautiously in response to tougher conditions. They focus on cash flow protection and work to keep those already employed in jobs, not expansion. Our index shows that relative to the peak of jobs advertised in the second quarter of 2011, in the fourth quarter, job advertisements are down over 21 per cent.”

Sectors that made gains in the fourth quarter 2011, in addition to Technology related industries, are Telecoms (+21 per cent), Tourism (+23 per cent) and Transport (+30 per cent). Security also increased by +11 per cent. Compared with the same quarter, Q4, in 2010, IT is performing strongly (+30 per cent). Telecoms, Tourism and Transport also remain positive, up +75 per cent, +61 per cent and +22 per cent respectively.

The downward trend in job vacancies advertised has become evident in the second half of 2011 and moving from Q3 to Q4 in 2011, many jobs categories have seen a decrease. These include Accountancy and Finance (-22 per cent), Beauty/Hair Care (-15 per cent), Engineering and Utilities (-19 per cent) and Medical Professionals and Healthcare (-15 per cent).

However, relative to the Jobs Index period (Q2 2009), sectors such as IT, Accountancy and Finance, Marketing, and Production, Manufacturing and Materials are performing well, increasing by +145 per cent, +100 per cent, +126 per cent and +104 per cent respectively. Sectors that are generally down, in addition to Construction, include Beauty, Hair Care, Leisure and Sport and Retailing, Wholesaling & Purchasing.

The IrishJobs.ie report is based on company advertisements from October 1 to December 31 2011.

Spotlight: Spotlight: Jobs in Dublin
Each IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index report profiles a specific geographic area or industry to get an indepth picture of what is happening. The Q4 2011 report looks at Dublin. According to Dr Kinsella, “it should come as no surprise that the city has the largest number of job advertisements (about 35 per cent of all jobs advertised).”

What are the types of jobs are on offer in Dublin today? The figures show all jobs in Dublin advertised between October 1 2011 and December 31 2011 and clearly IT, Sales, Science and Pharmaceuticals, Banking and Finance, and Accountancy are where the jobs are. Construction, Beauty and Engineering do far less well. Customer Service, Call Centres and Hotel and Catering sectors remain strong.

Dr Kinsella concludes: “Overall, it is clear that Ireland’s job market is transitioning away from lower skilled jobs to higher value categories.”

Stephen Kinsella 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.

Quarter 2, 2009 is the reference month for the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index. The Jobs Index is a leading indicator of labour market trends in Ireland.

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.