We regularly update this report to track the pandemic’s effects on the labour market. 

Irish job postings on Indeed have slowed in recent weeks. Job postings — a real-time measure of labour market activity — were 42.8% above the 1 February, 2020, pre-pandemic baseline, seasonally adjusted, as of 7 January, 2022. Having peaked at 54.4% at the end of November, the job postings trend has since eased off amid rising omicron cases and tightening restrictions. 

A line graph titled “Job postings on Indeed Ireland”
A line graph titled “Job postings on Indeed Ireland” showing the percentage change in job postings on Indeed Ireland since 01 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 07 Jan 2022. There was a 42.8% change in job postings on Indeed Ireland from 01 Feb 2020 to 07 Jan 2022.

Face-to-face service occupations among the biggest recent fallers

Since our last update in early December, several high-exposure, customer-facing occupations have seen weakening job posting trends. The omicron wave has presented considerable headwinds for businesses like pubs, restaurants, shops and hotels over recent weeks, amid consumer caution, tighter restrictions and widespread staff shortages due to isolation. It’s therefore unsurprising to see food preparation & service, hospitality & tourism and retail among the biggest fallers. 

Other categories have seen growth over the period though, including community & social service, nursing, logistic support, legal and engineering. 

Table titled “Hospitality, food and retail among biggest recent fallers.”
Table titled “Hospitality, food and retail among biggest recent fallers.” Indeed compared the percent change in Irish job postings, between 1 February, 2020, and 7 Jan 2022 across various sectors divided into sections “strongest performers,” and “weakest performers.” The strongest performers were community & social service and nursing, while the weakest performers were cleaning & sanitation and retail.

Slowdown across most large counties

Looking at across the five largest counties by job posting volume, trends generally mirror the easing of growth at the national level. County Kildare still leads, with job postings 65% above the baseline, while Limerick has the weakest job posting recovery at 12% above the baseline.

A line graph titled “Largest counties mirror national trend of easing growth”
A line graph titled “Largest counties mirror national trend of easing growth” showing a breakdown of the percentage change in job postings on Indeed Ireland since 1 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 7 Jan 2022, by the five largest counties by job posting volume. Kildare had the highest increase at 65%, while Limerick was the weakest performer at 12%.

We will continue to provide regular updates on these trends as the situation evolves. We also host the data behind the postings trends plots on Github as downloadable CSV files. Typically, the site will be updated with the latest data one day after the respective Hiring Lab tracker is published.

Methodology

All figures in this blog post are the percentage change in seasonally-adjusted job postings since 1 February, 2020, using a seven-day trailing average. 1 February, 2020, is our pre-pandemic baseline. We seasonally adjust each series based on historical patterns in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Each series, including the national trend, occupational sectors, and sub-national geographies, is seasonally adjusted separately. We adopted this new methodology in January 2021. 

The number of job postings on Indeed.com, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit’s HR Technology segment.