ONE QUARTER OF Irish businesses plan on creating new jobs within the next three months, according to a new survey of IBEC members.
The study shows that companies are steadily growing more confident about the economic situation. Currently the IBEC business confidence index stands at -13, but it has been trending upwards since the end of last year when it stood at -32.
People who own their own business are significantly more optimistic, with a confidence index of +17.
In terms of job creation, employers’ expectations are out of negative territory for the first time since IBEC began the survey in 2009 – meaning that some businesses are expecting to create as many jobs as others lay off. One quarter of employers expect to take on more staff, with roughly half planning no changes and the last quarter expecting a reduction in payroll numbers.
Fergal O’Brien, chief economist with IBEC, said: “Economic conditions across Europe have been hit by a crisis of confidence in recent months but for now it does not appear that this has severely impacted on Irish companies. The majority of Irish businesses remain confident about both their current business performance.”
He added that exports were performing particularly strongly. The survey was compiled of responses from 400 companies, all members of IBEC.
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