The number of professional job vacancies in Ireland in January 2017 was up by 33% compared to the previous month according to the latest Morgan McKinley Ireland Employment Monitor.

The data also showed that there was a 56% month on month increase in the number of professionals active in the job market.

 “January marks the beginning of a new hiring phase for many companies and we note for the first time more parity between the levels of jobs available regionally and in urban centres,” Morgan McKinley Ireland, Director of Inward Investment, Trayc Keevans, said. “In particular the IT market was exceptionally busy regionally both for permanent and contract roles with strong demand for Project Managers, Front-End Developers, SAP Specialists with new demand for Systems Administrators.”

According to Morgan McKinley, the dynamic in the IT sector between Irish headquartered companies and US multinational companies has shifted. In the past, it was difficult for indigenous Irish SMEs to compete with larger multinational companies who could offer better salaries, conditions and access to cutting edge technology. But now it is becoming a more level playing field. The majority of multinational companies have become slower regarding their hiring times and this is affecting the calibre of IT professionals they have available for selection. On the converse, Irish companies are winning the war for talent in this area because they can mobilise their hiring process and match the innovations of multinationals to claim the best talent on offer.  

“The overseas technology expansion and hiring plans of US companies have also slowed down as companies wait to see what restrictions if any that the new President of the United States will place on companies holding Intellectual Property overseas,” Keevans said. “ Again this has allowed Irish companies well placed to compete for available talent to reap the benefits.”  

Morgan McKinley also stated that in relation to Brexit, most interest in Ireland is coming from large Asian-headquartered investment banks with operations in the UK who, unhappy with Brexit, are conducting contingency planning and considering the talent that Ireland has to offer for their operations should they decide to relocate operations here.