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.
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.
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.
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.