US FIRMS SEEING SCIENCE SHORTAGE - Ahead of its annual Independence Day lunch today, the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland has released its workforce activation survey, tracking employment trends among US companies based here.
It finds that nine out of ten firms are currently looking to hire staff. This comes to a total of around 2,000 vacancies.
But the American Chamber points out that many firms are struggling to hire the people they need. Up to 30% of job vacancies at US firms take three months or more to fill. The Chamber says this reflects a 'lack of suitable skills and experience for specific roles'.
Gerry Kilcommins, president of the chamber, said the shortages were mainly in specialised skills, particularly in science and technology.
He said there had been a reduction in the past few years in students taking up science and maths subjects in universities, and companies were now seeing the results of that. Mr Kilcommins said US firms were upskilling and reskilling their staff as a short-term measure to cope with the shortages.
He said there recent initiatives to make science and technology more attractive to students had begun to make progress, but not quickly enough
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NEWS AND CURRENCIES - Satellite broadband company Onwave is recruiting 30 staff for its offices in Mullingar and Galway as it seeks to further develop a satellite-based broadband internet and television service.
Output from the Irish manufacturing sector declined in June. According to the NCB Purchasing Managers' Index - a monthly measure of activity in the sector - there were also fewer new orders in June than during the previous month. This was the first monthly drop in new orders for nine months.
On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.4514 and 90.32p sterling.
