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THE NUMBER OF new professional job opportunities increased by 18 per cent in the first quarter of this year in comparison to the same period of 2011, according to new figures.
The latest Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor reported positive movements in the hiring market so far this year, noting that the average pace of the recruitment process was quicker.
“The increasing number of professional jobs available in March 12 illustrates that the hiring market continues to improve on the same time last year,” said Karen O’Flaherty, Chief Operations Officer at Morgan McKinley.
The report showed a month-on-month increase of 9 per cent in the number of professional jobs coming onto the market in March, and an increase of 8 per cent in the number of professional opportunities when compared with March 2011.
O’Flaherty said that the increased confidence in the recruitment market is tempered by evidence of short term business forecasting, demonstrated by “a rise in demand for professionals to fill project and fixed term contracts versus permanent hires.”
The new hires are averaging a contract duration of 12-24 months and are primarily in the accounting and financial services sectors – however, demand for IT professionals and those with multilingual skills remains consistent across all sectors.
O’Flaherty said that redundancy announcements in Q1 12 were broadly offset by the number of job creation announcements – notably at HCL, Sogeti Ireland and Blackrock Incorporated.
She said increased hiring activity was expected throughout Q2 and the remainder of the year – but noted that ongoing economic uncertainty meant that predictions could change.
If you feel employers are exploiting the scheme you should report them to the Department of Social Protection – the administering department.
I do that also, cheers.
Sounds great! Don’t see it on the ground myself though.
What I do see however are paying jobs not being advertised normally, but being put through the Jobbridge Intern scheme.
In my local area yesterday, there were over 30 jobs advertised on this exploitation scheme that should be regular paying jobs.
From retail assistants, waiting staff, general operatives, caretakers, receptionists, secretarials, accounting, IT, admin, sales, marketing it’s all there and unbelievable.
This scheme is keeping people on the dole, reducing tax income, increasing social welfare costs and demeaning to everyone involved.
Even Tesco tried to get on the bandwagon by getting shelfpackers for Christmas. Every Little Helps when it comes to their obscene untaxed profits.
I have started to name and shame local employers via their facebook pages who exploit people this way, and I implore others to do the same.
Today it is someone else who has to work for next to nothing, tomorrow it could be you.
Have you been on the programme yourself gerard? I was a masters graduate and with no experience, employers would not look at me. Went on job bridge, got a nine month contract with a financial services company,and was offered a job after three months. Employers are currently risk averse in terms of hiring people, and working for free is a great example of a motivated individual. five of my friends all have similar story with similar success (all working). Alot of good has come out of jobbridge gerard.
Good for you Morgan.
I have many years experience in my field post qualification so no need to work as part of a gain experience programme.
However, the Jobbridge scheme is being totally abused by employers to get free labour, which in turns keeps unemployment high, and drives down salaries due to supply demand.
Do we need to have internships for waiters, shelf-packers, receptionists, secretaries, tyre fitters, caretakers etc?
The obvious answer is no.
The scheme should be scrapped, proper minded ambitious people like yourself will still find suitable experience in your chosen field, without the Jobbridge being in place.
Very welcome news although it highlights how most job growth is going to be in highly skilled areas and that we have a massive task to upskill people into these areas and to encourage young people to stay in education.
Well said. Ironic that it is reported today that many schools are looking to drop science subjects due to cutbacks….
What definition of “professional” are they using?
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