Less than half (45%) of Irish employers say they have the talent and skills they need to achieve their 2023 company objectives, according to a nationwide survey carried out by Recruiters.ie. The study examined the views and insights of more than 6,000 senior business leaders and hiring managers across the Republic of Ireland.

Less than half (45%) of employers say they have the talent and skills they need to achieve their 2023 company objectives (down from 56% in 2022). Of the 55% of employers that don’t, 23% of them do not plan on hiring more talent in 2023 despite the skills gap. The majority of these (60%) are small and medium-sized enterprises of between 51 and 500 staff and 20% are start-ups. 

Just over half (55%) of employers are optimistic about the Irish economy in 2023, down from 77% in 2022. Those that are not so optimistic (45%) include professionals mainly in the Finance (19%) and Software & IT sectors (28%). Optimism has been restored in the Recreation & Travel, Manufacturing and Retail sectors compared to this time last year. 
 
Wage inflation was the highest source of inflation impacting Irish based businesses in 2023 with 79% of business leaders surveyed claiming so. Energy inflation was the second highest source followed by supply chain inflation and interest rate inflation.  
 
Seventy five percent of respondents predict salary increases in 2023 (up from 66% in 2022). Only 23% expect salaries to “remain the same” (2022: 34%) and 3% predict salary decreases (up from 0% in 2022). Exceeding expectations, 89% of respondents got a salary increase in 2022 compared to 65% in 2021. 
 
Salary aside, career opportunities topped the list of talent-retention tactics for 2023 followed by Company Culture (up one place from 2021) and Company Innovation (up four places from 2021).
 
Source: www.businessworld.ie