Only 6% of firms have vacancies

ONLY 6% of private sector firms have job openings, down from the Celtic Tiger highs of one firm in four with vacancies in 2002, the latest FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey reveals.

However, the FÁS/ESRI fourth quarter 2004 quarterly employment and vacancies survey in the private sector also found that despite the fall in job openings the number of firms finding it difficult to recruit workers soared from 45% to 80%.

The reports key findings are:

* Employment expected to remain stable.

* 80% of firms find it hard to recruit workers.

* Vacancies at lowest level since July 2003.

* Construction vacancies up.

* Industrial vacancies fall from 20% to 15%.

* Retail job openings of 1% of firms lowest since July 2004.

* Services sector vacancies trending upwards.

The ESRI’s Gerry Hughes said the percentage of firms in each sector reporting vacancies is an important indicator of the balance between demand and supply in the labour market.

“At the end of the second quarter of 2002 when the long boom in employment was drawing to a close about 25% of firms in all sectors reported having vacancies. Between the end of the second quarter of 2002 and the third quarter of 2003 there was a slow decline in the percentage of firms in all sectors reporting vacancies to about 12% and the percentage remained around this level until June 2004.

“In June 2004 the percentage of private sector firms reporting vacancies increased to 21% (a monthly increase of almost 10 percentage points). However, this proved to be only a temporary fluctuation and the indicator fell back to 11% in the third quarter of 2004,” he said. Mr Hughes said that the fall in job openings in the industry, retail, and services sectors were sufficient to outweigh the increase that occurred in the construction sector.

“The percentage of private sector companies experiencing difficultly filling vacancies increased sharply at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2004 rising from 45% in September to 80% in October.

The percentage remained high for the rest of the quarter, so that in December 2004, 79% of private firms with vacancies said they were experiencing difficulty filling those vacancies,” he said.

Mr Hughes said the improvement in the trend in the fourth quarter can be attributed mainly to a more favourable outlook in the services and industry sectors.

“These sectors both experienced a deterioration in employer expectations at the beginning of the final quarter of 2004, but a significant improvement at the end.

“The Net Employment Expectations indicator for the construction sector fell in the first month of the final quarter, but it, too, increased significantly in both the second and third month of the fourth quarter.

“The Net Employment Expectations indicator for the retail sector, on the other hand, deteriorated throughout the fourth quarter of 2004,” he noted.