Professional job index records 10pc increase in Q2

Karen O’Flaherty, Chief Operations Officer, Morgan McKinley noted that professional job opportunities across all divisions have steadily increased across SME and multi-national sectors as a result of growing business confidence year on year.

The number of professionals seeking new job opportunities from May 2013 (10,135) to June 2013 (8,371) decreased by 17pc despite a slight gain of 2pc shown in last month’s Employment Monitor.

This monthly decrease is reflective in general of a downward trend for the year to date with the first six months recording a decrease of 14pc compared with the same period in 2012.

“Due to the start of the summer season new job opportunities have unsurprisingly decreased by 3pc between the months of May and June. The downward trend in the number of professional job seekers can be explained in a couple of ways. Both seasonal and economic factors can be attributed to the decrease. Compounded by news of a return to recession, job seekers are more cautious and considered when exploring new opportunities,” said Ms. Flaherty.

“Equally, many of the skills in demand by employers, particularly those in the multi-national sector, are seeking experienced professionals already employed and hence the pace of the market and recruitment cycle are typically slower and longer. Skills in demand within the senior professional market include the emergence of hybrid roles across finance, IT and marketing where strong multi-industry and sectoral experience combined with good project management, leadership and people skills are highly sought after. Trends emerging include experience in data modelling, analytics and forecasting complementing the traditional job descriptions and skills sets of the past.”

“With the establishment of new employers, through inward investment and the SME sector in various locations around Ireland in recent months, various job opportunities have arisen in technology including digital marketing, enterprise solutions and specialist IT skills including UI/UX engineers. Demand remains high for skills in multi-lingual technical support, customer service personnel and experienced marketers with pan European experience.”