The report found that Irish jobseekers are applying for roles at stronger rates, compared to their UK, French and German counterparts.
New data published by LinkedIn, which examines the European job market, has found that compared to other European countries, the Irish job market remains competitive. Trends in LinkedIn jobs data for December found that there is fatigue among European job seekers, amid low employment rates.
The UK recorded the biggest decline in employment, down almost 8pc year-on-year, followed by France at 5pc and Germany at 3pc year-on-year. In comparison, Ireland experienced a 2.4pc year-on-year increase in per capita claims.
Commenting on the data, LinkedIn Ireland country manager, Cara O’Leary, said, “While many European countries are showing clear signs of job seeker fatigue, Ireland is looking in the opposite direction.
What was also found is that a candidate’s network is becoming increasingly important, as LinkedIn data showed that applicants are 3 times more likely to be hired if they are connected to an employee who is already in the organization they are applying to.
O’Leary said, “Our data shows who you know is just as important as what you know, candidates are more likely to be hired if they know someone in the organization, reinforcing the value of relationships and experience. For employers, this highlights the growing influence of their people in attracting talent, with referral programs the only option to motivate employees.”
A magnet for AI talent
LinkedIn’s research examined how the global labor market is evolving as AI becomes more prevalent in the workplace and across a wide range of industries. It said, “In the near term, AI is creating more jobs worldwide than it is replacing. In the past two years, employers worldwide have created at least 1.3m new AI-related ‘collar’ jobs, including data analysts, AI engineers and distributed front-end engineers.”
Additionally, LinkedIn research has revealed that this demand for AI talent is outstripping Ireland’s supply, as the country continues to establish itself as an incoming buyer of skilled workers.
AI engineering talent is 8 times more likely to move across borders than the average LinkedIn member and the data showed a 2.2 increase in net migration of AI engineering talent to Ireland, placing the region second in terms of net gainers globally. The UAE was the world’s biggest magnet for AI talent, with the top five rounded out by Germany, Australia and Singapore.
O’Leary said, “Demand for ‘new jobs’ jobs continues to outstrip supply, but Ireland is proving to be a magnet for AI talent, successfully attracting more AI engineers to these shores than those leaving. Given that many of these jobs did not exist five years ago, with the pipeline out of the education system reaching higher levels, companies needing skills need to take note.
“We’ve never seen higher levels of interest in AI content on LinkedIn, so people are eager to learn. It’s best for employers to give their employees a chance if they want to gain a competitive advantage.”
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