Ireland’s unemployment rate of 5.3% has certainly dramatically improved from near 16% in 2012. More people are working in Ireland than ever, which is very positive. The drive to get more business into the regions and outside the main cities is on-going and working. Pressure on housing relative to other major cities, may be overstated but it is in everyone’s interest to balance employment in regional areas.
Salary inflation has been increasing in specific areas (IT, legal/compliance, data security, life sciences, banking) and in many cases experienced double digit percentage increases. Ireland is still relatively attractive to mobile European talent, but there has been pressure on salaries because of unprecedented demand. Benefits are increasingly a consideration for applicants, particularly in the technology world where flexible working is becoming the expected norm rather than a differentiating factor. There is no question that the employers who are winning “talent battles” are really looking at their employee experience and also their applicant experience more closely than ever.
Effective employer branding was a novelty a few years ago, but now essential in attracting top talent. The good news is that successful employer branding works and ensures salary inflation is not excessive and hiring new talent is controllable
Overall, 2019 looks likely to be an interesting year, but as long as we stay competitive and offer some flexibility, Ireland has every reason to believe we can continue to outperform other countries in the war for talent!
2019 Salary Guides for each discipline:
Posted by Adrian McGennis on 20 May 2019
