The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today indicates that Irish employers are reporting the strongest labour market forecast recorded in Ireland since 2007.
Irish employers across 11 sectors are reporting a seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook of +9% for the third quarter of 2016. This is a four percentage point improvement over the last quarter and three percentage points ahead of the same time frame last year. This Net Employment Outlook of +9% is the strongest reported in Ireland since the second quarter of 2007.
Furthermore, all 11 sectors evaluated reported positive hiring intentions for the third quarter of 2016 with seven sectors reporting a double digit Net Employment Outlook figure. This is only the second time since the first quarter of 2008 that all sectors have forecast positive hiring intentions.
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted by interviewing a representative sample of 620 Irish employers. All survey participants were asked: “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of September 2016 as compared to the current quarter?”
Regionally, employers in Dublin are reporting the strongest hiring intentions of all provinces polled, with an outlook of +15%, while employers in Ulster recorded the only negative hiring intentions with an outlook of -1%.
The survey reveals that employers in the Electricity, Gas and Water sector are forecasting the strongest hiring intentions of all 11 sectors evaluated for the third quarter 2016 with three of every 10 employers indicating they will add to their payrolls in the next three months and resulting in an employment outlook of +20%.
This is followed by employers in the Restaurant and Hotels sector who are registering an outlook of +13%. Employers in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sector, meanwhile, registered the weakest hiring intentions for the third quarter 2016 with an employment outlook of +2%.
Sales Director of ManpowerGroup Ireland, Cara O Leary says, "The results of the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey for third quarter 2016 strongly demonstrate that employer confidence in the Irish marketplace is growing at an accelerated pace."
She added, "This is only the second time since 2008 that we are seeing a positive Net Employment Outlook across all 11 sectors surveyed, meaning that employers in all sectors expect to grow staff numbers over the coming months. This is really great news for both the Irish economy and job seekers."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
