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Supply Chain & Logistics

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Latest Jobs

Sigmar’s Supply Chain division recruit for the following jobs: Supply Chain Director, Supply Chain Manager, Procurement Manager, Planning Manager, Materials Manager, Master Scheduler, Vendor Manager, Inventory Controller, Supply Chain Analysts, Warehouse Managers, Transport Managers, Logistics Managers,  Planner (capacity, equipment, materials, service),  Buyer (capital equipment, materials, services)

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Salary Guide 2022

Salary Guide 2022

Salary Guide 2022 (Full) Salary Guide Ireland 2022 (PDF) Salary Guide 2022 by Department Accountancy & Finance  Construction & Property Services  Financial Services & Insurance HR IT Legal & Compliance Life Sciences Manufacturing & Engineering Marketing Multilingual Office Support Sales Supply Chain Executive Summary From Adie McGennis, CEO What a year! We came into the year with high uncertainty but hope that we had all seen the chaotic stage of the pandemic over and a “New Normal” (or “New Abnormal”) giving stability and growth to businesses and economies.  Equity markets and job vacancies grew in the first half of 2021 to record levels. At Sigmar, we had experienced our strongest month in twenty years by May and have broken business records since then. It applied to both the permanent and temp/contract jobs market. This in itself, is unusual because generally strong markets see an increase in permanent hiring, and less utilisation of temps and contractors. Such was the nearly frenzied, demand that companies looked for any solution to enable their growth.  Salary inflation, as well as price inflation, began to increase, but all indicators show that further increases are coming. This was across the board, but particularly in IT and life sciences. Certain skills are experiencing double digit inflation, purely because demand is at an all-time high. Supply of skills by re-training or re-educating staff from sectors that suffered (retail, hospitality, etc.) was slow.  It does present opportunities for SMEs to compete with larger multinationals, as the employee experience has never been more important and the flexibility that SMEs can generally give and the speed by which they can move, can give significant edge.  Remote work obviously continued to increase significantly, and hybrid models seem generally to be the optimum for employees. Tax and legislative issues with working in a different country has slowed this internationalisation, but it does present excellent talent opportunities once it is well planned. Traditional professions, like accounting, HR and legal grew as pent-up demand was evident. In Ireland particularly, construction is very buoyant after the tight Covid restrictions closed many sites in 2021 lifted and the need for housing requires a large increase in activity in the coming years.  So, a year of unprecedented growth in demand for talent, giving challenge and opportunity. The recovery of economies will sustain this growth throughout 2022 but some apprehension prevails that global economic shocks could accelerate recession. So, it is difficult to be over-confident on a medium-term basis. Predictions are difficult but I would estimate that demand will begin to level out and drop late 2022 and return to more “normal” or pre-Covid levels in 2023.  The various Covid strains continue to challenge, but more importantly we hope everyone stays safe and healthy. 

10 Ways To Reduce Workplace Stress

10 Ways To Reduce Workplace Stress

We’ve all got responsibilities such as working and building a career, running a household and/or raising children which can all be very overwhelming and lead to lots of stress. Here are 10 things you can do to start feeling better and minimising stress:   1. Identify causes of stress What triggers your stressful feelings? Are they related to your workplace, children and family, friendships, finances or something else? Once you’ve identified the trigger, you can get down to the root of your stress and find the best ways to handle it.   2. Recognize how you deal with stress Are you using unhealthy behaviours to cope with work or life stress? For example are you using sleep deprivation, smoking, consumption of alcohol or junk food as a means of coping?   3. Get a good night’s sleep A lack of sleep can result in an increase in stress as a person will not be able to stay focused at work. Sleep deprivation also impairs our decision making ability as we are unable to think clearly. Getting 8 hours sleep a night will help improve a person’s health as you will be able to stay alert throughout the day.   4. Eat a balanced diet Hectic work schedules leave us short on time to prepare healthy meals for ourselves and people then have a tendency to grab fast foods. However eating a balanced nutritional diet will help you stay healthy and keep your brain alert. Deficiency in food nutrients such as lack of vitamin B in the body can result in depression and irritability. Also when a person is under stress, vitamins C and E may be lost.   5. Exercise When you exercise, your brain produces “feel good” transmitters called endorphins. Producing these endorphins will help you deal with stress healthily as people who exercise regularly have more energy.   6. Stay organized It is an overwhelming feeling to think that there are not enough hours in the day. Therefore it is imperative that you manage your time. Come up with a daily plan and keep a diary to keep yourself on track.   7. Do not procrastinate Work piles up when you keep on delaying tasks. There is no use putting off for tomorrow what can be done today.   8. Don’t take on more than you can handle at work Avoid creating your own stress by over-scheduling and failing to say no when too much is asked. Don’t overpromise, and give yourself time to finish the things you do agree to tackle. Don’t be afraid to ask for help/delegate if you can’t meet all the demands placed on you.   9. Ask for support  Accepting a hand from supportive friends and family can help you persevere during stressful times. If you continue to feel overwhelmed by stress, you may want to talk to a psychologist who can help you manage stress.   10. Finally, treat yourself When you accomplish a personal goal or finish a project, do something nice for yourself. Go out for a round of golf with friends or take a weekend break with your family. Treating yourself between tasks can help take the edge off and prepare you for the next challenge.

Supply Chain Weak Links Affect Consumers Adversely

Supply Chain Weak Links Affect Consumers Adversely

The supply chain industry in Ireland continued to grow in the last 12 months with a number of multinational companies setting up EMEA manufacturing or virtual headquarters across the country from Galway to Cork and Athlone to Dublin. Candidates are coming to the Irish market in large numbers, in particular experienced Irish supply chain professionals are returning from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. This in turn increases supply of candidates but they are being more selective of the jobs and the salaries they require. There is currently a gap in the market between what companies are paying and what candidates can now demand. In 2016 salaries increased in the pharmaceutical, medical devices and food industries, however companies with exposure to Brexit in terms of exports will keep salaries constant as they navigate the ramifications of the changing political landscape.   After speaking with senior managers and directors all year about developments at their companies a number of key trends have emerged.   Real-Time Tracking for Consumers is Paramount for Customer Engagement For any company that is supplying produce or specific products directly to consumers, real time tracking is essential to keep the customer engaged. With the world being “smaller” and more connected, consumers have a myriad of choice when it comes to spending their money. This leads to impulse buys and the expediency of a speedy delivery, is essential. This is making the visibility of tracking technology used by the company directly or third party logistics (3pl) providers vital.   Plan, Plan, Plan – Improvements are Always Needed Brexit, currency fluctuations, increased tariffs, geographical disruption – supply shocks are everywhere. 2016 was a year of turbulence and change with most of the aforementioned occurrences unpredicted at the start of the year. However, regular planning or even reactive planning to changing market conditions was essential for nearly every company dealing with a changing geo-political environment in Ireland, the EU and beyond.   Flexible Supply Chains V Lean Supply Chains The focus over the past number of years, and rightly so, has been to champion Lean principles throughout the supply chain. This has led to companies reducing costs and trying to improve processes on a regular basis. Between supply shocks and the changing global economic and political landscape, companies can be left with major stock shortages affecting key parts of their supply chain. With consumers being more transient, keeping or maintaining service delivery through a period of disruption is key. More and more companies have set up excess stock facilities and depots for excess raw materials to insure continuation of supply instead of irreparable damage to their brand over the long term period.   With expansions and new system implementations rampant as companies seek to increase market share and deliver a better service offering to consumers, supply chain experience to improve and create a flexible supply chain for a European marketplace is being sought in the form of senior contractors for certain durations from 2 months to 2 years. For those in Supply Chain or interested in getting into it, courses to upskill in a different ERP system would be hugely beneficial the movement evermore to Big Data and its usages across the supply chain function. Supply chain qualifications as a primary degree are becoming more in demand, putting certain candidates at a disadvantage therefore bettering a qualification is advisable. Undertaking a supply chain course, particularly one with classroom participation, thus drawing from other students’ supply chain experience would be advisable as more and more companies are looking for people to have a supply chain qualification on top of their initial degree.  

How To Answer “What’s Your Greatest Weakness?”

How To Answer “What’s Your Greatest Weakness?”

The one question I am always asked when preparing a candidate for an interview is “how do I answer the weakness question?”   The worst reaction you can have to this question is to say I don’t have a weakness. Everyone has a weakness and the reason the interviewer is asking this question is to see how you act outside your comfort zone.   People often make the common mistake of trying to turn a negative into a positive. An example of this would be I’m a perfectionist or I work too hard. These answers are boring and show the interviewer you have put very little thought into his/her question. Also you are not actually answering the question you’re just trying to put a clever spin on it.Another mistake candidates make is being too honest. Never mention a weakness that you have if it is going to stop you from getting the job. So don’t answer “I’m lazy” or that “I’m always late” as this is not what your potential new employer wants to hear.   The trick to answering this is in the same way you would answer any interview question and that’s by preparing your answer in advance. It can be very difficult to talk about your flaws in a stressful situation like an interview so make sure you spend time preparing your answer.   These are a few ways to best answer the weakness question:   1. Pick a weakness that is acceptable for the job Don’t pick a skill or requirement that is on the job spec that you don’t have and say it is your main weakness. This will only put doubt into the interviewers head.   2. Pick a weakness that you can develop For this type of answer you might think of an example where you had a weakness but developed it over the course of your time in prior employment.   3. Describe your weakness in a concise way Don’t go into loads of detail on this question. They are asking you your weakness so be brief and don’t come across as negative. A common answer that candidates often use when asked the weakness question is on their delegation skills.   Here you can mention a time when you used to have the mentality that only you could do the job but over time you realised that it was actually slowing the work down and by delegating to other staff members the job was done quicker. This answer is perfect to give but it depends on what job you are going for. If you are going for a managerial role where managing and delegating work will be part of your job description then don’t use delegating as your weakness.   Every question in an interview is an opportunity for you to sell yourself, so it is important you never miss a genuine opportunity and the weakness question is no different. Treat it like you would any interview questions that you find hard and prepare your answer.

Meet the Supply Chain & Logistics Recruitment Team

As specialists in the Procurement and Supply Chain sector, we recruit on a permanent, contract or temporary basis for a wide and diverse number of opportunities across all industry sectorsincluding Manufacturing, FMCG, 3rd Party Logistics, Pharmaceutical and Electronics. Our dedicated supply chain consultants have accrued a wealth of experience, depth of understanding and extensive networks of contacts across the supply chain recruitment market.

CONTACT OUR TEAM

DUBLIN

13 Hume St, Dublin D02 F861, Ireland.​

Tel: + 353 1 4744 600
Fax: + 353 1 4744 641

Email: info@sigmar.ie

CORK 

1 Georges Quay, Cork City, Cork T12 X0DX, Ireland

Tel: +353 21 431 5770
Fax: +353 21 431 6407

Email: cork@sigmar.ie

GALWAY

4th Floor, Dockgate, Dock Road,
Galway H91 PC04, Ireland.

Tel: + 353 91 563868

Email: galway@sigmar.ie

ATHLONE

14 Sean Costello Street, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, N37 R970

Tel: 090 641 3973

Email: athlone@sigmar.ie