The Irish jobs market is forecast to return to growth this year after a difficult 2025, which saw a double-digit decline in advertised job vacancies as employers took a cautious approach to hiring in the face of rising costs and the geopolitical uncertainty triggered the trade tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump.

The 2025 Review & 2026 Trends Forecast report,  produced by FRS Recruitment, the winners of the Employment and Recruitment Federation’s Large Agency of the Year award for 2025, shows the Irish jobs market saw a 17% year-on-year decline last year.

However, the recruitment agency is forecasting the Irish jobs market will rebound in 2026. A survey of recruiters nationwide shows they are expecting a 6% increase in advertised vacancies for the coming year, following on from a revival in the jobs market in the final quarter of 2025 which saw a significant pick up in hiring activity.

In 2026, FRS Recruitment expects to see a double-digit increase in advertised job vacancies in sectors such as frontline healthcare, technical engineering, life sciences, IT, accounting & finance, business support, and agri-food, while there will be more modest growth in sectors such as construction and business support.

In contrast, the company expects to see a decline in job postings for temporary or part-time roles, and allied healthcare roles.

Year in Review

The rebound in the jobs market comes after a difficult 2025, which saw the number advertised job openings decline by 17% year-on-year as companies across multiple sectors took a cautious approach to hiring. Instead, businesses focussed on cost containment last year by delaying permanent hires or expanding existing roles internally.

Ireland’s urban centres felt the impact of this employer caution, with all major cities recording notable year-on-year declines in advertised vacancies (Dublin, –20%; Galway, –25%; Cork, –28%; Waterford, –39%; Limerick, –39%).

One of the sectors which saw the steepest decline in hiring was Accounting & Finance, where the number of job postings plummeting almost 40% last year. Similarly, job openings in the agri-food sector declined up to 15%. Unsurprisingly, both sectors were particularly exposed to the threat of US tariffs.

Job openings in some industries continued to grow despite the backdrop of economic uncertainty. The Information Technology (IT) witnessed a 6% year-on-year increase in job postings overall during 2025 as companies continued their adoption of AI tooling, large language model (LLM) infrastructure and cloud transformation.

Similarly, the continued growth in renewable energy development saw strong demand for skilled workers in the construction sector, particularly for roles like Quantity Surveyors (QS).

Cost management

In a bid to manage rising employment costs, many businesses invested in automation processes, while the adoption of artificial intelligence continued apace in many sectors.

Both trends mean certain jobs increasingly face the threat of becoming obsolete, including roles such as general engineering operatives, multi-lingual customer service in business support, and roles in accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Additionally, the latest increase in the minimum wage and the introduction of the Auto-Enrolment Pension Scheme also forced many businesses to manage staff costs last year or defer hiring plans, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.

Many employers chose to offer temporary and contract roles as a quick and cost-effective way of solving staffing challenges last year without increasing their permanent workforce headcount. This strategy saw a 40% increase in the number temporary jobs available in the Irish market in 2025. However, many of these temporary or contract roles went unfilled due to companies offering poor remuneration levels for demanding job descriptions.

Return to Office

One noticeable trend from 2025 was the continued rise in tensions between employers and staff over return to office policies.

Unsurprisingly, most employees continue to seek positions that offer greater work-life balance and remote working opportunities.

However, there was a significant uptick last year of companies offering new positions that were strictly office-based. This contrast between employee desires for flexible working and companies seeking to enforce return-to-office policies meant many positions went unfilled last year.

Employee Caution

With less job openings in the market during 2025, potential candidates became much more cautious. Jobseekers applied in higher numbers but were more reluctant to move roles, especially where offers did not sufficiently offset cost-of-living pressures.

Additionally, the opportunities for entry-level positions for graduates dried up significantly as employers sought to hire candidates with more experience and less requirements for training or upskilling. Of the roles that did become available, there was a higher influx of applicants coming from outside the EU, adding to the competition for roles.

Speaking on the report, Lynne McCormack, General Manager of FRS Recruitment, said:

“2025 was a challenging year for the Irish jobs market, with multiple headwinds creating a lot of uncertainty for companies to deal with. In particular, the first half of the year was defined by US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, which brought a lot of uncertainty to exporting companies in Ireland.”

“With a tariff agreement now in place, there is much more trading certainty for businesses, and I would expect to see a rebound in the jobs market for 2026. In the final quarter of 2025, FRS Recruitment saw a resurgence in the number of jobs postings across the market, and I believe that trend will continue into the first half of this year.

“Overall, Ireland’s economy continues to grow, and the labour market remains tight, meaning companies will need to compete for talent. It’s also likely we will continue to see trends around investment in AI technology and automation continue this year, as well as increased focused by employers on return to office policies.”