Irish employers plan on hiring next year, but tech sector will be ‘cautious’

More than three-quarters of Irish employers surveyed by Hays plan on increasing salaries over the next 12 months.

Nine out of 10 Irish employers plan on hiring over the next year, despite global economic concerns. That’s according to the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends Guide 2023.

The recruitment company surveyed more than 1,600 employers and professionals across Ireland between 29 August and 26 September 2022.

The survey found that employers are also raising salaries to cover cost-of-living increases. Pay remains the top reason employees moved jobs last year (42pc) and is expected to be the main driver for employee movement in the year ahead (34pc).

Hays found that 84pc of companies have increased their employees’ salaries or rates of pay over the last year, compared to just 56pc that did so the year before. More than half (58pc) said this is a direct result of the rise in the cost of living.

More than three-quarters (79pc) plan on increasing salaries over the next 12 months.

Most of the employers surveyed (72pc) said that they are confident of their company’s performance over the coming year despite current market challenges and apparent difficulties in finding skilled staff.

The vast majority (92pc) of employers said they have experienced skills shortages in the past 12 months. This was almost unchanged from last year’s figure of 91pc.

Talent retention is the biggest internal challenge for 64pc of companies surveyed. Three-quarters of employers are hoping to recruit permanent staff to fill their requirements, with just 28pc wanting temporary staff.

Cautious mood in Irish tech

Maureen Lynch, operations director at Hays Ireland, said that the 2023 guide paints a “brighter picture” despite headlines in recent weeks suggesting economic uncertainty.

“Our data shows that, on balance, employers remain optimistic that 2023 will see further economic and job growth across sectors, including accountancy and finance, engineering and healthcare,” she added.

“However, there is no denying that challenges will persist in the year ahead as employers and employees alike continue to grapple with the rising cost of living and inflation and a more cautious mood in the Irish tech sector.

“Skills shortages remain a persistent problem for employers, the majority of whom have had to increase wages to both attract new talent into the workplace and retain in-demand existing employees. This is a trend that shows no sign of slowing down in the year ahead.”

Last week, the Central Statistics Office published its Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2022, which showed continued recovery from the pandemic in Ireland’s labour market. Employment now stands at 2.55m, an increase of approximately 3.4pc over the third quarter of 2021. There were 83,100 jobs created in the first nine months of the year.

While employment is up, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, acknowledged that people will be affected by the “recent announcements of downsizing in certain tech companies with a presence in Ireland”.

This month, job cuts have been announced by tech players including Twitter, Meta, Stripe and Intercom.

“We will assist any employees affected as they seek alternative employment or other opportunities,” Varadkar added.

“There are well-established statutory processes to protect employees, and we are confident that all national employment rights requirements for consultation and notification of redundancies will be adhered to once decisions on any reductions in employment are made.”

Varadkar also reiterated his earlier statements that no tech companies have “given any indication” that they are considering closing their Irish bases.

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