The Irish labor market recovered strongly in the first five months of the year, according to the latest labor market analysis from IDA in association with Microsoft and LinkedIn.
Interest rates were 27% higher than in the same period before the pandemic in 2019, despite ongoing economic uncertainty fueled by the war in Ukraine.
In May, the CSO reported that the number of people working in Ireland rose to 2.5 million, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
Employers are also noticing the demand for remote work, with almost one in five Irish job postings on LinkedIn in April offering the possibility of working from home. This is ahead of other markets such as the UK which saw 13.7% of job postings offering work from home.
Only 11.8% of German job advertisements offered potential employees the opportunity to work remotely.
Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index showed an appetite among Irish employees to switch to a fully remote model, with 20% of respondents interested in this model.
However, those who work solely from home also expressed an interest in returning to the office, with 42% of remote workers surveyed considering switching to a hybrid model.
The index also showed that positive work culture and flexible work hours are two of the most important benefits outside of salary.
According to the report, there has also been a rise in digital skills among the Irish workforce. The increase in the number of digital skills LinkedIn’s 2 million members have added to their profiles has increased by almost a fifth since 2019. There has also been a nearly 30% increase since 2015.
Digital skills are also becoming more important in sectors outside of technology, with LinkedIn recording the rise in digital skills capability in construction, transportation and logistics, healthcare, and finance.
