โIrish Tech Companies Return to Optimism in Q4 - +29% Overall Growth in Jobs
Ireland Net Employment Outlook of +29% signals a return to significant growth in jobs
IT sector hiring confidence rebounds with a Net Employment Outlook of +39%
Hiring optimism is driven by demand for specialist roles like AI specialists, rather than volume hiring for generalists
More than half of Irish employers reveal they expect AI to create more jobs than it replaces over the next two years
Irelandโs Information Technology sector expects a resurgence in hiring confidence following consecutive quarters of stagnant recruitment, according to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey. The sectorโs Net Employment Outlook has increased to +39%, up from +6% last quarter. This marks the highest level of optimism since the post-pandemic hiring boom.
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Despite this, hiring at volume is expected to remain subdued, with high-skilled roles like AI specialists, data engineers, cloud architects, cybersecurity specialists, and developers igniting tech sector hiring. This follows findings that 51% of employers say they expect AI adoption to lead to increased headcounts over the next two years.
โFollowing a period of redundancies and hiring freezes made in response to economic turbulence and post-pandemic over-hiring, the tech sector is now looking to the future with a sense of cautious optimism.โ said Jonny Edgar, Managing Director, ManpowerGroup Ireland. โBusinesses have restructured with sustainable headcounts, and mounting confidence in the growing economy together with a surge in demand for specialist tech skills is fuelling positive hiring plans.โ
โEmployers feel confident about the potential of AI to create more jobs than it replaces, and thereโs a growing appetite for specialists in generative AI and machine learning. However, we know itโs going to be a mixed picture, and it remains to be seen whether businessesโ optimistic attitude is reflected in the reality of hiring trends over the coming years.
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The Information Technology sectorโs revived confidence is most pronounced in Dublin, home to many of Irelandโs tech multinationals. Here, IT employers report a Net Employment Outlook of +41%, a marked increase on the -20% in Q1 and +10% in Q3 of this year. Employers in Dublin also reported the highest levels of AI adoption at 41%.
Large Enterprises, businesses with more than 5000 employees, also report a rebound in hiring optimism, with +38% intending to hire in the fourth quarter. This is an increase of 22 percentage-points on last quarter and up 23 percentage-points year-over-year.
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