Rise of 11% in job vacancies ‘encouraging’

There was an 11% increase in the level of available jobs around the country in August but a similar level of decline in the number of people actually looking for work.

The latest edition of the monthly Irish Employment Monitor, from recruitment consultancy, Morgan McKinley shows an 11% monthly increase in job vacancy levelsand a 9% year-on-year rise in August.

However, the new figures also show an 11% drop in the numbers of professional job seekers entering the market — from 9,240 in July to 8,230 last month. On an annualised basis, that drop was 26%.

August is a typically quiet month in recruitment terms, but Karen O’Flaherty, chief operations officer at Morgan McKinley, said that the rise in job opportunities was encouraging, with demand for work most notable in the medical device, pharmaceutical and fast-moving consumer goods sectors.

“Medical device and pharmaceutical companies continue to seek supply chain professionals, specifically with warehouse and procurement expertise.

“In particular, those with analytical and forecasting knowledge and engineers with quality and manufacturing experience are in demand,” she said.

Demand for new staff is also high in the IT sector and the financial services industry — new fund candidates in particular are in demand in the latter category.

“Despite some talent shortages in specific sub-sets of the market, we are yet to see this translate into an increase in remuneration packages being offered. Looking forward to the latter months of 2013, we expect to see increased activity in the jobs market and are cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the year,” Ms O’Flaherty said.

She said the overall rise in opportunities supports recent Quarterly National Household survey results, revealing a fourth consecutive quarterly rise in employment levels. The latest Morgan McKinley figures, however, also show a 26% year-on-year drop in the number of professionals looking for new jobs.