FAS/ESRI EMPLOYMENT AND VACANCIES SURVEY: OCTOBER 2007
15/11/2007
Key findings of the survey for the month of October 2007:
- There was a slight decrease in economy-wide vacancies with 12% of firms
in the private sector reporting vacancies compared to 14% in
September;
- A reduction in reported vacancies in the services sector was the main
driver of the fall in economy-wide vacancies as reported vacancies in
each of the other three sectors surveyed - construction, industry and
retail - increased slightly;
- Month-on-month reported vacancies in the construction sector increased
by 2 percentage points to 10%. However, the 3-month moving average
vacancy figure, which smooths out monthly fluctuations, remained unchanged
for the fifth consecutive month in a row at 8%, the lowest this figure
has been since the survey began in May 2002;
- There was a 4 percentage point decline in reported vacancies in the
services sector to 16%;
- There was a slight increase of one percentage point in the number of
firms reporting vacancies in both the industry and retail sectors, to 19%
and 3% respectively;
- There was a significant reduction in employers' future employment
outlook with the economy-wide Net Employment Expectations indicator falling
to -11%. This indicates that the percentage of employers expecting a
fall in employment levels in their firms over the coming months is 11
percentage points higher than that predicting an increase. This
economy-wide indicator figure has been trending downwards since May 2007, and the
October reading is the lowest it has ever been;
- Construction sector employers' employment outlook continued to
deteriorate with the Net Employment Expectations indicator for the sector
falling by 7 percentage points to –25%. This is the lowest this sector’s
indicator figure has been since the survey began in May 2002;
- Industry employers' employment expectations improved marginally,
however, a higher proportion still expect employment levels in this sector to
fall rather than rise over the coming months;
- The employment outlook of retail employers' continued to be
pessimistic; the Net Employment Expectations indicator for the sector was –3%;
- Service sector employers' sentiment regarding future employment levels
in their sector declined for the sixth consecutive month. The Net
Employment Expectations indicator for the sector was -13%. This indicator
has been falling sharply since May of this year, and this month’s figure
is the lowest it has been since October 2004;
The most frequently reported difficult-to-fill vacancies in each sector
were:
Construction: Site and contract managers and quantity surveyors
Industry: Managers, engineers and general operatives
Retail: Managers and sales personnel
Services: Sales executives and accountants
For further information contact:
John McGrath (FAS), at 01-6077431,
Elish Kelly (ESRI) on 01-8632063, or
Philip O'Connell (ESRI) at 01-8632064.
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