38pc increase in professional job vacancies in June

21 Jul 2010

June 2010 saw a 38pc increase in the number of new job opportunities for professionals in Ireland compared with the same month last year, according to the latest Premier Group Irish Employment Monitor.

The IT sector, meanwhile, showed particularly strong growth for the second month in a row, with strong demand for software developers.  

The recruitment company said the number of professional vacancies increased 4,117 in June 2009 to 5,669 in June of this year. However, month-on-month job volumes dropped by 7pc from 6,124 in May 2010 to 5,669 in June.

While the number of new available jobs has increased since June 2009, Premier Group said the number of professionals in the Irish jobs market has also risen by a significant 55pc over the 12-month period, from 8,070 to 12,480.  Month-on-month, the number of professionals looking for new career opportunities has also increased by 12pc, rising from 11,135 in May 2010 to 12,480 in June.

“Although June ’10 saw new professional job opportunities decrease by 7pc compared to May ’10, the volume of job vacancies was still at the second highest level since November ’08,” said Brian Murphy, CEO of Premier Group in Ireland.

“The drop is also being measured against May ’10, which experienced the highest number of new professional jobs coming on to the market since October ’08.”

Murphy said the significant 31pc growth of professional jobs experienced in the Irish market in the first half of this year over the second half of 2009 was encouraging. “Since the lows experienced in Q3 ’09 we have now seen three consecutive quarters of growth in job numbers: Q4 ’09 grew by 13pc over Q3 ’09; Q1 ’10 grew by 18pc over Q4 ’09; and Q2 ’10 has grown by 8pc over Q1 ’10.

“While these growth levels are coming off the very low base experienced in Q3 ’09, they give hope that perhaps the worst is behind us and indicate that some confidence has returned to the jobs market and businesses are taking a more positive approach to hiring.

“The IT sector has shown particularly strong growth for the second consecutive month with high demand for software developers driven partly by new business operations entering the Irish IT market in recent months,” said Murphy. “Professionals with experience in Java, .Net, C++ and Sharepoint have been in particular demand to fill the increasing volume of roles requiring these skills. This is a trend that we expect to see continuing into Q3 ’10.

Murphy added that candidate availability had remained strong in June 2010 with a 12pc increase on the previous month.  “Many companies are still quite selective when recruiting so the market remains challenging for professionals looking for new jobs,” he said. “However, as the IT market has shown over the last couple of  months, the pool of talent available is not bottomless and as demand picks up in niche areas, companies may speed up their decision-making to ensure success with their hiring requirements.”

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