There is a growing skills shortage in the west of Ireland for construction projects in the medical devices and pharmaceutical sectors, according to Niall Toland,a senior manager with the recruitment firm Hays.

Professionals across the country could soon see their salaries increase by up to 12% as the demand for niche skills rises.

WITH news one week of potentially catastrophic job losses and the next of the latest tranche of inward investment creating new employment, getting an accurate picture of the jobs market is confusing, at best. So, what is going on?

Cape Blanco is to be retired to stud after sustaining a knee injury when winning at Belmont Park in America on Saturday.

Jamie Spencer paid tribute to owner Dr Jim Hay after riding Cape Blanco to a comfortable victory in the Arlington Million.

AIDAN O’BRIEN bids to round his Royal Ascot off with another big winner when the potentially high-class Await The Dawn tackles the Hardwicke Stakes.

THREE out of four professionals surveyed in Ireland said they would consider leaving in the next three years if the economy does not improve.

Three quarters (74%) of the professional workforce in Ireland would consider leaving in the next three years if the economic situation does not improve, a new survey has found.

RECRUITMENT firm Hays said it is hiring 40 graduates to manage an Irish jobs growth surge in the largest recruitment campaign they have undertaken here.

THREE out of four employers plan to recruit next year but close to three quarters of those unemployed plan to look abroad for work.

TAX hikes, cuts in social welfare and selling-off the ESB and Board Gáis are favoured by finance directors in private companies as key measures to reduce the budget deficit.

ALTHOUGH still below the positive 50 point mark, the latest construction sector barometer from Ulster Bank hints that the industry is moving closer to recovery – with a rise in new business orders, an easing in the pace of job cuts and a slowdown in the decline in overall activity evident.

ALMOST 30% of people working in the construction sector have left Ireland to look for work overseas during the past three years, according to new data.

ARCHITECTURAL firms have cut close to two-thirds of their workforce in the last two years.

Recruitment consultant Hays today said fee growth slowed to 4% in the UK and Ireland after a “difficult quarter” in the construction and property sector.

The London market advanced today as blue-chips benefited from broker upgrades and stronger trading in New York.

Personnel group Hays - which has more than 200 offices in the UK and Ireland - today said its core recruitment division had delivered an “excellent” performance as it confirmed it will hive off its mail business later this year.

British Airways is poised for a return to the FTSE 100 Index following a six months absence, it was reported today.

Leading shares ended the day little changed, with a tepid opening on Wall Street and a drift for the heavyweight oil stocks offsetting rallies for stocks including Hays and Lloyds TSB, dealers said.