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

Irish job postings on Indeed have dipped further from recent highs. Job postings — a real-time measure of labour market activity — were 53% above the 1 February, 2020, pre-pandemic baseline, seasonally adjusted, as of 22 April, 2022. That’s down from a post-pandemic peak of 65% in mid-February, but still at an elevated level. Employers appear to have taken their foot off the accelerator with regards to hiring, as downside risks to the economy have built in recent weeks. Notably, the inflow of new job postings has slowed recently. That said, the continued high level of job postings is reflective of many organisations still having staffing gaps to fill following a period where recruitment conditions for many have been challenging. 

A line graph titled “Job postings on Indeed in Ireland”
A line graph titled “Job postings on Indeed in Ireland” showing the percentage change in job postings on Indeed Ireland since 01 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 22 Apr 2022. There was a 53.1% change in job postings on Indeed Ireland from 01 Feb 2020 to 22 Apr 2022.

Some occupations are booming while others lag

The strength of job posting recoveries continues to vary considerably across occupations. The pharmacy and cleaning & sanitation categories have job postings over three times pre-pandemic levels, while they are more than double the baseline in personal care & home health and retail. 

Conversely, job postings are below pre-pandemic levels in the chemical engineering, architecture, construction and civil engineering categories. 

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 22 Apr 2022 across various sectors divided into sections “strongest performers,” and “weakest performers.” The strongest performers were pharmacy and cleaning & sanitation, while the weakest performers were chemical engineering and architecture.

Kildare has strongest job postings recovery

Looking across the five largest counties by job posting volume, County Kildare leads with job postings 94% above the baseline. Limerick has the slowest job posting recovery at 20% above the baseline.

A line graph titled “Kildare has strongest job postings recovery”
A line graph titled “Kildare has strongest job postings recovery” showing a breakdown of the percentage change in job postings on Indeed Ireland since 1 Feb 2020, seasonally adjusted, to 22 Apr 2022, by the five largest counties by job posting volume. Kildare had the highest increase at 94%, while Limerick was the weakest performer at 20%.

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.