New hires seek flexible working conditions if pay demands not met

Osborne’s recent Talent Series webinar poll found that 67% of clients have increased salary and/or benefits since the start of 2022.

Requests for increased wages have eased in some sectors recently but have been replaced with other demands as companies scramble to keep staff in Ireland, said a Cork-based recruitment agency.

Osborne, a recruitment agency for sectors including IT and pharma, said that the demand for pay rises at the beginning of the year were putting some firms under serious pressure.

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“It was unsustainable the way it was going,” said Osborne’s director of commercial development David Walsh. The company recently said the increase in salaries was possibly fuelled by the significant rise in counter offers being made.

“We have seen counter offers in the region of €5,000 to €13,000 more and in one instance a candidate was offered €20,000 more to stay with their current employer,” said Osborne CEO Shona McManus in the firms recent Salary Guide report.

"The war for talent is raging again with employers finding themselves in the midst of a candidate driven market," she added.

Osborne’s recent Talent Series webinar poll found that 67% of clients have increased salary and/or benefits since the start of 2022. Of those, 54% have increased salary and/or benefits by 3% or more. Mr Walsh said it is “inevitable” that companies will have to increase wages due to the current economic headwinds.

This opinion contrasts the one held by Ireland’s leading business lobby group Ibec, which recently said inflation could not be “chased” down with higher wages. 

Flexible working

There has been a shift in recent weeks as inflation soars and the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis become stronger. Osborne has witnessed employees and new hires move away from wage hike requests in recent weeks and push for more flexible working instead.

Mr Walsh said people are more likely to stay in their jobs for stability if they do not get pay hikes they desire.

“If employers can’t offer salary increases across the board, they’re trying to offer candidates things that might be of benefit to both parties,” said Mr Walsh.

These flexible working conditions include hybrid working, paid days in lieu and being able to travel for a period before starting employment.

“The last three years there has been very little emigration from Ireland. That door has been kicked wide open now,” said Mr Walsh.

He said that new graduates, which are particularly valuable to companies, are now looking to travel before they start work. This has led to some companies trying to “maintain the umbilical cord” by letting candidates and staff emigrate for a period while also securing their job for when they return.

There are some sectors that are still battling wage demands leading to staff shortages such as in hospitality. Osborne does not provide recruitment services in this sector.