Employers across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon are recruiting for a wide spread of skills, and many are finding that competitive pay alone does not close a hire. Candidates in the region are weighing work-life balance, flexibility, and the overall package alongside salary.
Demand Is Broad, and Sectors Overlap
Demand across the three counties spans a broad range of sectors and skill sets, and it remains strong. In finance, clients are seeking qualified accountants at all levels, particularly those with manufacturing experience. In engineering and manufacturing, the hardest roles to fill include quality engineers, regulatory affairs, EHS, packaging engineers, maintenance technicians, manufacturing technicians, and process technicians, across day, evening, and night shifts.
Pharmaceutical and MedTech employers are looking for regulatory affairs, process development, and material handlers. In commercial and customer service, clients want customer service professionals, particularly those with language skills and those willing to work night shifts. HR business partners, insurance claims specialists, and medical secretaries are also in demand.
Two patterns stand out. Regulatory affairs appears in both the engineering and manufacturing list and the pharmaceutical and MedTech list, which suggests employers in different sectors may be competing for the same candidates. And the number of roles that need cover across evening and night shifts means shift requirements are a live factor in how many candidates are available. Hiring managers should expect competition from neighbouring sectors, and should be clear from the outset about the shift pattern attached to a role.
Competitive Packages, but Salary Alone Is Not Closing Hires
Remuneration packages in the region are competitive, and some employers are offering bonuses. One client's bonus equates to a full month's salary. Maintenance technicians in particular are being well looked after, with salaries increasing significantly over the past 12 months.
Even so, a 10 percent increase in basic salary is often not enough to convince someone to move roles. That is a significant finding for employers who treat a percentage uplift as their main tool for attracting talent. Candidates are placing greater importance on work-life balance, flexibility, and the overall employment package than on salary alone.
For employers, the implication is that a salary-led offer will often fall short with candidates who are already settled. A bonus structure like the one described, equal to a month's pay, shows what a package built around total reward can look like. It adds value that a modest base increase does not, and it gives a candidate something concrete to weigh against their current position. Employers who compete on base pay alone, particularly in the technician and engineering roles where salaries have already risen, may find that matching the market is not enough to win people over.
Flexibility Is Driving Retention
Work-life balance and flexibility are now central to how candidates assess a move, and the employers with the strongest retention are those willing to offer greater flexibility. In practice, that includes allowing one or two days a week in the office where the role allows. The qualifier matters. Many of the roles in demand across the region, such as technician and manufacturing positions, are tied to a site and a shift pattern, so flexibility will not look the same across every vacancy.
That makes the wider package more important in roles where the working pattern is fixed. Where flexibility is possible, offering it appears to give employers a clear advantage in both attracting and keeping people. Where it is not, candidates are likely to look harder at the other elements: bonus arrangements, base salary, and the broader terms of employment. Employers should review each role individually, asking what flexibility it can genuinely support, and present that clearly to candidates early in the process.
The Takeaway
Across the West of Ireland, hires are being decided on the whole package, not the size of the salary uplift, and flexibility is the factor retaining people most effectively. Get in touch with our team for custom benchmarking on the roles proving hardest to fill in your area.
