After a strong performance in 2003, online recruiter Monster.ie is predicting an equally buoyant jobs market in the coming year.
In an interview with siliconrepublic.com, managing director Alan Townsend said the Irish division of the Monster group was set to continue its good performance of last year. “We had a very good year in 2003 in Ireland. We saw a 35pc increase in sales revenue, a 25pc increase in traffic and a huge 40pc increase in number of people putting CVs on the site.”
He added that 2004 had started strongly, with employers posting 1,000 new jobs on Monster.ie within the first seven days of the year.
“The signs are that companies are more confident now. It seems that they were holding back on recruitment in Q3 and Q4 of last year and waiting for Q1 and Q2 of this year when they felt they could get the best return on their investment.”
Townsend noted that the recruitment market was generally healthy last year, with the exception of manufacturing and technical manufacturing sectors, which showed some decline. “2003 was a year when many industries bottomed out, green shoots began to appear and confidence began to return. This year we’re expecting growth in virtually every sector except manufacturing,” he said.
Commenting on the decision by Philips yesterday to move its accounting services centre in Leopardstown to Lodz, Poland with the loss of 150 jobs, Townsend doubted whether it was the start of a trend of services jobs moving to Eastern Europe. “Many of the skills we have are still in demand. But if we rely on a single language and basic skills then we could be trouble.”
By Brian Skelly
