In the third quarter of 2018, there were 7% more job ads in Ireland than in the same period a year previously. This is the third quarter in a row with year-on-year growth, following three quarters of falls, according to the latest Cpl Employment Monitor.

The Employment Monitor is Cpl’s quarterly report on the current state of the jobs market in Ireland. 

The strongest rate of growth, by sector, was in IT, where there were 16% more jobs than a year ago. The Science, Engineering & Supply Chain sector recorded 9% more jobs than in the year prior.

Cpl Resources asked both employers and jobskeekers to rate, on a five-point scale, whether the market is an employer’s one or a jobseeker’s one. The overall reading for employers (0.9, i.e. a market in favour of jobseekers) is the strongest on record, and compares to a reading of 0.5 eighteen months ago. The large gap between how jobseekers and employers assess the market persists – with the most recent overall reading for jobseekers at -0.2.

Ronan Lyons, economist at Trinity College Dublin, commented, “Ongoing growth in jobs posted in these key professional sectors is a welcome trend. While jobseekers and employers still view things differently, both see the jobs market now as being one where jobseekers have more bargaining power than in recent years.”

Other findings from the Monitor showed that 75% of employers said their organisation has started investing in training & development programs to prepare for the future of work. The findings also show that vast majority of employers think that men do their fair share in supporting women in the workplace, with 76% saying responding with ‘yes’ and 24% responding with ‘no’.