Job vacancies fell by 25% in the second quarter of the year, on an annual basis, according to the latest Jobs Index from hiring platform IrishJobs.
The report finds that the fall is linked to the post-Covid hiring surge that occurred in 2022.
On a quarterly basis job vacancies fell by 4% and are now largely in line in pre-Covid levels which IrishJobs said points to a stabilisation in the labour market.
The catering sector had the highest number of job vacancies, followed by management, medical and healthcare and IT.
The tech sector is still the fourth largest source of jobs nationally but it has been on a downward trajectory since the third quarter of 2022.
The latest figures show a fall in both annual and quarterly vacancies in the IT sector.
Fully remote/working-from-home vacancies have experienced a strong rebound after three successive quarterly falls, indicating remote working may be stabilising as a long-term practice in the Irish workplace.
In addition to the Jobs Index, IrishJobs commissioned research on attitudes and preferences to job seeking in Ireland.
It found that 27% of respondents are actively looking for a new job.
Workers ranked higher salary and improved work-life balance as the top reasons motivating their use of jobs platforms.
“The jobs market remains strong, with the unemployment rate reaching a historically low rate of 3.8% in May and remaining there in June,” said Orla Moran, Managing Director of IrishJobs and The Stepstone Group Ireland.
“The latest release of our Jobs Index shows that the jobs market is more settled than in recent years, following a period of volatility.”
Article Source: Job vacancies fall by 25% compared to last year – report – Brian O’Donovan – RTE