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We are forecasting that employment opportunities are expected to grow by 10% over the course of 2022. Buoyed by the ongoing recovery of the economy across most sectors, we expect the majority of employers will be seeking to hire additional staff as they look to grow their businesses and address skills shortages in the next 12 months. In particular we forecast strong demand in manufacturing and engineering, construction and IT roles this year.

This growth in opportunities will be a continuation of the trend which began last year, when we handled a total of 81,528 job postings, up by 12% on the 72,939 we managed in 2020. The rise in openings was cross sectoral with significant growth experienced in the commercial, IT, healthcare, construction, life sciences and engineering, agricultural sectors as well as temporary industrial and commercial positions.

Sector Analysis 

Among the career areas in which FRS Recruitment recorded the largest rises in activity during 2021 were  retail (up 117%), transport and logistics (up 82%), pharmacy – retail (up 69%), professional services (up 68%) and banking and financial services (up 58%).

Regional Analysis

While nationally there was a broad increase in the number of roles handled, there were some significant regional variations experienced. In total 20 of the Republic’s 26 counties saw the number of job postings rise with the most significant increases coming in Longford (up 158%), Carlow (up 117%), Kilkenny (up 79%), Meath (up 76%), Louth (up 72%) and Cork (up 60%). Dublin also experienced strong growth (up 39%) and accounted for by the largest number of postings, 21% of the national total.



Six counties also experienced a decline in opportunities, with the largest drops coming in Roscommon (down 45%) and Donegal (down 30%).

The information was published in our end of year report, Job Opportunities Abound.

Click here to read in full.

Speaking about the report Lynne McCormack, General Manager of FRS Recruitment said, “We strongly believes the next 12 months will be another very busy year for recruitment. There should be significant movement across the economy with employers looking very closely at their resourcing needs as they seek to grow and expand their organisations and address any current and projected staff shortages.

“While in 2021 it was a few months into the year and post the lockdown before the recovery in employment began in earnest, this year FRS Recruitment anticipates demand will be strong right from the outset. In recent months we have been seeing signs that the understandable reluctance to engage in change while in the midst of the pandemic, an approach adopted by both employers and employees, has been diminishing. We expect that will lead to a lot more movement in the market. This will be particularly apparent in the manufacturing and engineering, construction and IT sectors, but increased demand is likely to be shared across most sections of the economy.

“In some sectors the need for experienced, skilled personnel is also becoming challenging, with employers finding it difficult to attract suitable candidates. This is likely to lead to pressure on salary packages as employers compete to attract the best personnel and retain their current teams. We also believe there is likely to be an increased focus on attracting foreign based qualified candidates to meet shortfalls in some sectors,” Ms. McCormack concluded.