There was a 130pc year-on-year growth in the number of jobs in Ireland offering remote work at the beginning of this year, according to the latest quarterly jobs index from IrishJobs.ie.
With inflation rates on the rise, the hiring platform suggested that more workers in the country may be looking towards these roles.
The first Quarterly Jobs Index of 2022 indicated that the jobs market in Ireland is slowly beginning to stabilise following the pandemic.
It revealed a 44pc increase in the number of jobs available across the country compared to the first quarter of last year. However, this represents a deceleration in growth compared to the year-on-year figure for the last quarter.
Orla Moran, general manager of IrishJobs.ie, said that over the past year the index had “reflected the variable nature of the pandemic and its role as a key driver of hiring surges across the country towards the end of last year”.
She attributed the stabilisation in the jobs market to the recent lifting of public health restrictions, but noted that we are still seeing an increase in job vacancies.
“This shows that the market for employment remains strong for jobseekers around the country and employers need to remain competitive in order to retain and recruit talent.”
Moran said that it is still “an employee’s market” and so HR departments “will continue to have to work hard to fill key talent gaps in their organisation”.
“This period is being framed as the ‘great re-evaluation’ as employees assess their career options and consider what is important to them. We are also starting to see the impact of inflation, which the ESRI believe will run at an average of 6.7pc for the year, and is likely to encourage employees to move jobs to try and attain higher salaries in order to keep pace with soaring consumer prices.”
Moran added that it is possible inflation could “replace Covid-19 and a better work-life balance as a key factor driving up the number of roles offering remote work”, as people try to cut down on commuting and other costs associated with working from the office.
“In fact, working-from-home vacancies continue to grow at a faster rate than overall vacancies,” she said.
The overall volume of jobs available in Ireland remains high, according to IrishJobs.ie, with more options being made available to remote workers as well as jobseekers outside of the capital.
Almost every county in Ireland experienced double or triple-digit year-on-year growth in the most recent quarter, with the exception of three counties.
Job openings in Dublin rose by 38pc, representing a modest 3pc quarter-on-quarter increase. However, Wicklow experienced a 134pc increase, followed by Kilkenny (129pc), Kildare (114pc) and Carlow (116pc).
Last July, IrishJobs.ie reported an increase in vacancies in the IT and financial sectors. In this latest quarter, jobs have rebounded significantly in the sectors worst hit by Covid-19 restrictions, such as tourism, travel and hotel and catering.
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