There are signs of easing in the labour market after some extremely tight quarters brought about by the Covid-related impact on recruitment when vacancies were plentiful.
According to the latest Jobs Index from the recruitment platform, IrishJobs.ie, the overall number of vacancies here in the third quarter showed a near 10% reduction compared to the same period last year.
On a quarterly basis, vacancies were down 4% in the three months to the end of September.
However, despite signs of easing, job vacancies are still up by a third on pre-Covid levels, the report concludes.
Hotel & Catering, HR & Recruitment and the retail sectors experienced the largest quarterly decline in vacancies.
The loosening in the market appears to be having an impact on the availability of remote working options.
The report captures a 9% fall in the number of jobs offering remote work when compared with the quarter to the end of June, but it's still around 20% higher when compared to the same period last year.
Decline in hospitality vacancies
A sharp decline in vacancies on a quarterly and year-on-year basis was recorded in the hotel and catering sector.
However, far from it pointing to an industry that has staged a remarkable turnaround from the labour shortages that followed the pandemic, it still accounts for the most vacancies of any sector of the economy.
It's followed in second place by General Management and Consulting with the Medical Professional & Healthcare sector the next largest generator of job vacancies this quarter.
The Information technology recruitment scene continues to operate in the jobseeker's favour.
Vacancies in the sector were up 1% year-on-year and by 7% over the three-month period.
Some sectors posted year-on-year growth, but hesitancy is apparent at the quarterly level.
These include some business support and financial activities, such as Banking, Financial Services & Insurance - where vacancies were up by almost a third in the year, but down 5% in the quarter.
In the Accountancy & Finance sector, there was an 18% rise in vacancies year-on-year, but they were down 1% in the quarter. Construction, Architecture & Property followed a similar trend.
The Science, Pharmaceutical & Food sector recorded a 1% year-on-year decline in vacancies, but they were up 15% in the quarter.
Nine sectors posted both year-on-year and quarterly declines including manufacturing, business support services as well as retail and the aforementioned hospitality sector.
Orla Moran, General Manager of IrishJobs.ie, said the figures had to be viewed in the context of the labour market in the immediate aftermath of the lifting of Covid restrictions.
"As we consider these figures, we must acknowledge that Q3 2021 was a particularly buoyant quarter, as the country emerged from a long lockdown with the gradual reopening of hospitality across the country. This, along with the fact that Q3 generally sees a decline in comparison to the summer months of Q2, might help to take the edge off what might otherwise seem an uncertain outlook for job vacancies across Ireland," she explained.
However, Ms Moran acknowledged that there were challenges that would likely impact the recruitment market generally.
"There's no doubt that employers across Ireland are responding to the shock that has hit domestic and global economies. Exorbitant energy prices subsequent to Russia's invasion of Ukraine negatively affect both producers via higher production costs and consumers via diminished purchasing power.
"This on top of decline in consumer sentiment as a result of the economic outlook is borne out by the wide range of domestic sectors that have posted declining job vacancy rates in 2022 Q3," she added.
"Despite this, we’re still seeing a rise in applications, in September for example applications were up 20% through IrishJobs.ie compared to the same month last year," Ms Moran concluded.
