Workforces and salaries ‘set to climb’

Employers are expecting to expand their workforce at the fastest rate since 2007 with staffing levels expected to rise in almost all sectors of the economy, a new report has found.

The Manpower Employment Outlook survey found that employers are reporting a seasonally adjusted net employment outlook of +10% for January to March 2015, an increase of 13 percentage points on the previous quarter, and 16 percentage points ahead of the same period last year.

The results of the survey conducted in 620 companies constitute the strongest planned rate of expansion in more than seven years.

Employers’ positivity seems to be spread across almost all business sectors with staffing levels forecast to grow in 10 of the 11 industries evaluated.

Employers in the pharmaceutical sector in particular are strongly optimistic about the outlook and expect the strongest job growth, 30% ahead of the opening quarter of 2014. This also represents the strongest ranking for this sector in the marketplace since the third quarter of 2002.

Manpower Ireland operations manager Jonny Edgar said: “The fact that employers in 10 out of the 11 sectors surveyed plan to increase staff early next year is great news for job seekers.

“The pharmaceutical industry is expected to perform the strongest, which is evident from the recent job announcements from companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb. With sentiment this strong, there is no doubt that optimism among Irish employers is entering 2015 on an extremely strong footing which is great news for the country as a whole”.

A number of other sectors are also expecting to add considerably to their workforce in the opening three months of next year, including: the construction; transport, storage and communications; and restaurant and hotels sectors.

Employers in Ulster reported the most optimistic hiring intentions regionally with those in Connacht the least optimistic.

Meanwhile, a report by Brightwater Recruitment shows salaries have risen An average of 2% to 5% this year with those in IT having rises of up to 10%.

Executive base salaries have seen increases ranging from 10% to 18% while discretionary target bonuses have improved to varying degrees; from about 20% up to 55%.

Another report yesterday also predicted that further pay rises were on the way for workers in 2015.

Global management consultants, Hay Group are predicting an increase of 1.4% in salaries next year which when inflation is factored in should equate to increases of about 1.1%.