Irish employment rates are stagnating, but ‘green shoots’ are being seen in other sectors
A report by LinkedIn shows that while it is declining, the rate of decline in people starting new jobs in Ireland is milder than in other European markets.
Workplace social network LinkedIn has released new data examining Ireland’s current recruitment market. It found that rental prices in Ireland stagnated during the month of January and recorded an ‘average’ year-on-year decrease of 7.2pc.
In Ireland the rate of decline was, however, less drastic than that of its European counterparts, showing an average year-on-year decline of 12.2pc. Worse still, Italy and the Netherlands reported declines of more than 16pc and France fell by more than 17pc year-on-year.
Commenting on the data, LinkedIn Ireland country manager, Cara O’Leary, said: “Despite the slowdown in employment, Ireland remains stronger than most of our European peers.
The report noted that these ‘green shoots’ were seen in many industries across Ireland, as financial services (5.9pc), hospitals and healthcare (5.4pc), all recorded increases in employment.
Mobility and AI
Demand for flexible working opportunities was also shown to be on the rise, with Ireland seeing the highest rate of remote outsourcing (10.9pc), coming second in Europe for the number of integrated positions advertised. The report said, “Despite accounting for only 10.9pc of all job vacancies, applications for remote roles accounted for 18.5pc of all applications, highlighting the power of flexibility to attract talent.”
O’Leary said, “Our latest data continues to demonstrate the magnetic power of flexible work to attract talented prospects. Ireland leads the European rankings for remote outsourcing and comes a close second for hybrid roles. The volume of applications for remote positions underlines their desirability and sends a clear signal that flexibility is a key differentiator for hiring companies.”
LinkedIn’s data also highlighted the need for specialized talent in the area where it found the ability to work with AI agents to be among the fastest growing AI engineering skills for 2025. This, the report says, indicates a shift towards independent execution of certain tasks. Similarly, the growth of AI strategy and the performance of a large language model, has been found by the platform as an emphasis on organizational investment in specialized workflows.
It said, “The net result is that AI engineering talent now carries a mobility premium; because of tangible skills they are 8 times more likely to move across borders than the average LinkedIn member.”
O’Leary said, “Employers are creating exceptional talent, especially experts with experience in AI applications, AI strategy and LLMOps. Given that many of these roles did not exist five years ago, AI professionals are in a position to pay a clear premium.”
“For example, AI engineering professionals travel more than most workers, and their coworkers previous data it shows Ireland is a big plus for AI migration. “
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