FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey: January 2006

February 09, 2006

News

09/02/2006

 

FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey: January 2006

Embargo: 1:00 a.m. on Thursday 9th February 2006



Key findings of the survey for the month of January 2006:

 

 

  • Economy wide vacancies decreased by two percentage point as 14 per cent of firms across all sectors indicated they had vacancies to be filled;
  • The percentage of retail firms reporting vacancies decreased by 3 percentage points to 4 per cent;
  • Both the construction and services sectors experienced increases in the proportion of firms reporting vacancies;
  • The percentage of industrial firm with vacancies remained stable at 16 per cent;
  • Overall private sector employers are anticipating no change in employment levels;
  • Employer sentiment in the retail sector reached its most optimistic level since October 2002 as the Net Employment Expectations indicator climbed to 2 per cent;
  • The Net Employment Expectations indicator for the services sector increased by a significant 9 percentage points to a position where, on balance, employers expect no change in employment levels in the next few months.
  • Employer sentiment in the industrial sector fell to its most pessimistic level in two years with 11 per cent more employers feeling employment levels will decrease rather than increase over the coming months;
  • The Net Employment Expectations indicator for the construction sector rose 7 percentage point with 8 per cent more firms anticipating a rise rather than a fall in employment in the near future;
  • The most frequently reported difficult-to-fill vacancies in each sector were:
    • Construction: Quantity surveyors and site managers
    • Industry: Engineers, sales personnel and accountants
    • Retail: Managers and sales personnel
    • Services: Architectural assistants and chefs