FÁS/ESRI EMPLOYMENT AND VACANCIES SURVEY: May 2006

08/06/2006

 

FÁS/ESRI EMPLOYMENT AND VACANCIES SURVEY

Embargo: 1:00 a.m. Thursday 8 June 2006 Key findings of the survey for the month of May 2006:

  • The percentage of firms reporting vacancies across all sectors decreased by a six percentage points from 22 per cent to 16 per cent;
  • The decline in economy wide vacancies reflects decreases in the percentage of firms reporting vacancies in the services, construction, and retail sectors;
  • Vacancies in the industrial sector remained stable with 23 per cent of firms indicating they had vacancies to be filled;
  • The percentage of service sector firms reporting vacancies fell significantly from 31 per cent to 22 per cent;
  • Employers are anticipating no change in employment levels in their firms in the near future;
  • The industrial, construction and services sectors all experienced a deterioration in employer sentiment regarding future employment levels;
  • The Net Employment Expectations indicator for the services sector fell eleven percentage points relative to the previous month. Currently employers in the sector are anticipating no change in employment levels over the coming months;
  • Employer sentiment in the construction sector deteriorated considerably but remained optimistic as 5 per cent more employers are anticipating that employment levels in their firms will rise rather than fall in the near future;
  • The industrial sector experienced a slight decline in its Net Employment Expectations indicator from 9 per cent to 7 per cent;
  • Employer sentiment regarding future employment levels in the retail sector remained stable and pessimistic;
  • The most frequently reported difficult-to-fill vacancies in each sector were:
    • Construction - Quantity surveyors and sit managers
    • Industry - Engineers, sales staff and managers
    • Retail - Sales staff
    • Services - Chefs and engineers.