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

Irish job postings on Indeed have dipped from recent highs. Job postings — a real-time measure of labour market activity — were 59% above the 1 February, 2020, pre-pandemic baseline, seasonally adjusted, as of 18 March, 2022. That’s down from a post-pandemic peak of 65% a month ago, but still at an elevated level. Rising uncertainty following the invasion of Ukraine and the associated energy price spike have strengthened headwinds facing the Irish economy, though don’t appear to have blown strong labour demand off course as yet. 

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 18 Mar 2022. There was a 59.4% change in job postings on Indeed Ireland from 01 Feb 2020 to 18 Mar 2022.

Some occupations are booming while others lag

The strength of job posting recoveries continues to vary considerably across occupations. The dental and cleaning & sanitation categories have job postings more than three times pre-pandemic levels. Pharmacy and loading & stocking postings are also well ahead of the baseline. 

Conversely, certain white collar occupations have seen lacklustre recoveries. Chemical and civil engineering job postings are below pre-pandemic levels, while architecture and legal job postings are only just above the baseline. 

Table titled “Some occupations are booming while others lag.”
Table titled “Some occupations are booming while others lag.” Indeed compared the percent change in Irish job postings, between 1 February, 2020, and 18 Mar 2022 across various sectors divided into sections “strongest performers,” and “weakest performers.” The strongest performers were dental and cleaning & sanitation, while the weakest performers were chemical engineering and civil engineering.

Kildare has strongest job postings recovery

Looking at across the five largest counties by job posting volume, County Kildare leads, with job postings 96% above the baseline. Limerick has the slowest job posting recovery at 31% above the baseline.

A line graph titled “Growth picks up across five largest counties”
A line graph titled “Growth picks up across five largest counties” showing a breakdown of the percentage change in job postings on Indeed Ireland since 1 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 18 Mar 2022, by the five largest counties by job posting volume. Kildare had the highest increase at 96%, while Limerick was the weakest performer at 31%.

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.