Morgan McKinley Salary Guide
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Salaries set to rise in Ireland as IT and pharma sectors continue to grow

12 Jan 2017

A detailed report into salaries across numerous professional industries has found that employment figures will continue to rise in 2017, with up to 10pc salary increases in areas.

If you’re working in skilled areas such as IT, science, engineering, accounting or financial services, chances are 2017 could prove a profitable year for you.

According to Morgan McKinley’s salary guide for this year, 5-10pc salary increases will bring these fields into a higher level of average income, with IT in particular reaching notable levels.

CTOs could be making €150,000 a year, QA managers as much as €90,000 and technical leads not far off that. Lab technicians could reach €40,000 in the pharma industry, and those working in formulation fields could earn double that.

According to the report, last year saw GDP growth and a drop in unemployment rate and, despite Brexit and the US presidential election, domestic consumption and general investment continues.

Morgan McKinley suggests that the most in-demand talent will continue to be in the pharma, fintech and IT sectors. Growth in demand for ‘hybrid talent’ in the fintech space is being driven by new companies and the innovation labs of large banks and consultancies.

Meanwhile, the most sought-after professionals in IT will have big data, Java developer and cybersecurity expertise.

Claiming forecasting to be more difficult this year on the back of global political uncertainty, Karen O’Flaherty, COO of Morgan McKinley, expects GDP growth to slow – though it’s not all bad.

“FDI employment demand is currently strong and tracking ahead of the Horizon 2020 employment creation targets set, and it remains to be seen if there will be positive or negative impacts on FDI flows arising from Brexit and from changes in the US administration.

“However, we firmly believe that Ireland’s talent base and supportive infrastructure remain very attractive to inward investment.”

Emigrants are still returning to Ireland, presumably encouraged by the talent gaps across a range of industries, again most notably in IT and science.

In 2016, net inward migration overtook net outward migration for the first time since 2009, with recent FDI investments in the regions outside of Dublin supporting this trend.

However, a reliance on the UK market remains a concern.

“Approximately 30pc of all employment is in sectors that are heavily related to UK exports – particularly SMEs in the agri-food and tourism sectors,” said O’Flaherty.

“Given the increased prominence of a hard Brexit scenario, any negative shock to export demand in the future would flow through the economy, with potential implications for the labour market and employment.”

Gordon Hunt
By Gordon Hunt

Gordon Hunt joined Silicon Republic in October 2014 as a journalist. He spends most of his time avoiding conversations about music, appreciating even the least creative pun and rueing the day he panicked when meeting Paul McGrath. His favourite thing on the internet is the ‘Random Article’ link on Wikipedia.

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