Salary increases this year are likely to be in the region of 5-10% in certain sectors, rising up to 15-20% increase for certain niche skills in demand. This is according to The Morgan McKinley 2022 Irish Salary Guide - a comprehensive analysis of pay across a range of professions and sectors. The annual salary guide published today also provides an average outline of anticipated remuneration by sector.
Upward pressure on salaries has been driven by the reduction in mobility of international talent and the corresponding demand for individuals already in location. Morgan McKinley would expect normal inflationary figures (2-5%) to come back into play in a post pandemic world as countries open up and the flow of external candidates into Ireland takes pressure out of an overheated employment market.
To gain an understanding of current hiring realities, Morgan McKinley also surveyed key hiring decision makers from 62 companies and 4,134 professionals across a range of industries. People were surveyed across Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Interestingly, the data shows that technology advancements are not resulting in the displacement of jobs, rather they are creating more jobs as the drive for developing capability in AI, Robotics, Machine Learning requires human input. Morgan McKinley predict for 2022 the most in demand positions for IT will be in Data Analytics, namely Data Analysts, Data Engineers and Data Scientists. There is strong demand for DevOps talent also, with requirements for companies to flex on the experience level required to enable them to hire at the pace they wish to.
Demand for Software engineers continues unabated with the core development languages .Net, Java and Python most in demand, while Ruby on Rails and PHP having somewhat of a resurgence on the market. There has also been a growth in demand for cloud engineers, not specific to front or back end engineering, with full stack engineers combining a knowledge of cloud engineering proving most popular in today’s market.
The pandemic increased the pace of acquisition of all things digital and an associated surge in demand for cyber security professionals. The cyber security industry employs over 7,000 people in Ireland, and it is estimated that almost 30,000 professionals have Cyber security related skills. Ireland has become a global location for cyber security multinationals, including five of the top ten worldwide security software companies, as well as cyber security operations centres (SOCs) and teams across a diverse range of sectors including ICT, financial services, telecoms, manufacturing, and healthcare. Morgan McKinley say the market will continue to see strong demand for all types of Cyber security talent in 2022 from Architects, Risk Analysts, Compliance engineers, SOC Analysts, Security Engineers, Security Consultants etc.
While Ireland is still not leading the world in the area of Cryptocurrencies this sector has begun to create more employment opportunities over the past 12 months and this is expected to continue.
Morgan McKinley believe 2022 will see the introduction of a number of employment law changes around the introduction of a Statutory Sick Pay Scheme for the first time, the introduction of the statutory right of employees to request remote working, changes to the current whistleblowing regime, as well as navigating the impacts to employers of the enactment of IORP II / The European Union (Occupational Pension Schemes) Regulations 2021. Such changes will require agile and adept HR Business Partners and HR Generalists who are also in strong demand going into 2022. There is growing demand for this talent with the professional services firms and external consultancies that will pervade throughout 2022.
Commenting on the data, Global FDI Director at Morgan McKinley Ireland, Trayc Keevans said, "We’re currently seeing the most demanding employment markets of our time. The Great Resignation of the past year appears to be still in full swing. The experience of the sustained public health emergency has prompted countless workers to re-evaluate their work options, fine-tuning a better work-life balance and making deliberate choices as to where their careers are heading next. They’re looking for opportunities that give them the right pay, benefits, and work arrangements in the longer term. New opportunities opened up by remote work means workers can now access roles that previously were geographically off-limits."
She added, "As a result, there is a constant misalignment between the supply and demand for employees in the market. We’re experiencing the return of counter offers because there is a strong demand to fill roles. For some organisations, the Great Resignation is an unparalleled threat, creating organisational challenges around skillsets and resources, and affecting everything from quality of work and time-to-completion to bottom-line revenue. For others, it’s a golden opportunity to secure accomplished talent that will add value for years to come. Consequently, organisations are under incredible pressure to adapt their leadership, management, and work practices. As a means of attracting talent, many employers are either adjusting their working models to hybrid or fully remote or offering higher wages in response."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
