Skills gap remains an issue despite positive economic outlook
A new report compiled by Hays has found that while Ireland’s overall economic outlook is positive, a growing skills gap in industries such as tech and construction is an important issue.
Economic growth in Ireland has been on a steady upward curve, with unemployment down from 9.4% last year to 7.8% this year. The report found that businesses, as a whole, are “generally confident” in the Irish economy as they are growing their teams and expanding operations. However, the requirements for highly skilled people in areas such as IT, construction and life sciences means that many look abroad to fill key positions.
Richard Eardley, managing director of Hays Ireland, says: “Overall, the Irish jobs market is buoyant and the trend of recovery is continuing. Backed by investment from both foreign multinationals and indigenous firms, falling unemployment, relatively stable political conditions and a Government friendly to business, the economic outlook for 2016 and 2017 is positive.
“However, our ongoing skills shortage is a problem and many international and highly skilled industries, like IT and construction, are bearing the brunt of this.”
The recruitment company’s annual Global Skills Index analyses the various job markets across 33 major global economies. Ireland’s score has increased on the index to 6.3 in 2016, from 5.7 in 2015. The score uses factors such as education flexibility, labour market participation and wage pressure to calculate an overall score.
A score of 5.0 means that companies are able to recruit, retain or replace their most important talent at generally prevailing wage rates. A score closer to zero indicates that there is intense competition for key vacancies, while a score of 10 would suggest severe difficulty in finding the right skills to fill these key roles.
