The Irish labour market saw a continued decline in fully remote job vacancies in the third quarter of 2023, according to new data released by IrishJobs. While fully remote opportunities dipped, hybrid working positions remained stable, reflecting a potential long-term shift in work arrangements.
Hybrid Work Remains Stable
Despite recent announcements from major companies encouraging a return to the office, hybrid work models continue to gain traction. Vacancies offering a blend of remote and office work accounted for 11.2% to 12.4% of jobs advertised over the past six quarters. Searches for hybrid roles on IrishJobs surged 46% year-on-year, significantly outpacing the 9% increase for remote opportunities.
“Recent return-to-office announcements have caused ripples in workplaces globally. Our analysis reveals two distinct trends: fully remote work is declining, while hybrid working has stabilized, suggesting its permanence in the labour market,” said Sam Dooley, Country Director of Stepstone Group Ireland, which owns IrishJobs.
Construction and Engineering Sectors Remain Strong
Beyond hybrid trends, sectors like construction and engineering continued to demonstrate strength. Construction vacancies surpassed IT jobs in the past three months, accounting for 5.3% compared to IT’s 5%. While construction vacancies fell 15% quarter-on-quarter, year-on-year growth paints a brighter picture. Hiring activity soared 31%, with vacancies almost a third higher compared to the same period in 2022.
Demand for roles like quantity surveyors, environmental, health, and safety advisors, and construction managers remains high.
Other Sector Highlights
Property, retail, arts, and entertainment sectors, often categorized as “domestic” sectors, outperformed internationally traded sectors like banking, finance, and IT. Catering, encompassing the challenging hospitality industry, accounted for 11% of vacancies.
The tech sector, however, experienced a 10% drop in quarterly vacancies, suggesting a slow recovery from recent mass layoffs.
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