FÌÁs/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey: April, May and June 2005

September 08, 2005

News

08/09/2005



Fás/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey: April, May and June 2005

Embargo: 00:01 a.m. Thursday 8th September 2005

This is the second electronic bulletin reporting the results of the FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey in its new form. It provides information on the percentage of firms that have current vacancies and on employer sentiment regarding the outlook for employment in the immediate future. This bulletin covers the months of April, May and June 2005. The results for July 2005 will be presented in a monthly bulletin for that month and the results for each month thereafter will be presented in a bulletin for the appropriate month.

Key findings of the report for the months of April, May and June 2005:

  • Overall the percentage of private sector firms reporting vacancies increased during the 3-month period from 10 per cent in March to 12 per cent in June 2005;
  • The industry sector saw the percentage of firms reporting vacancies fall from 17 per cent in March to 12 per cent in June 2005, its lowest level for the second quarter of the year;
  • The percentage of service sector firms reporting vacancies continued to increase reaching 17 per cent in June 2005;
  • The percentage of retail sector firms reporting vacancies remained very low at 1 per cent in June 2005
  • Overall employment in the private sector is expected to rise over the coming months as data for June 2005 indicates that employer expectations regarding future employment improved slightly on the optimistic levels of March 2005;
  • Employers in the retail sector remain pessimistic about the employment outlook for their firms in the coming months;
  • Construction sector employers became more optimistic during the 3-month period with significantly more employers feeling employment in their firms will rise rather than fall over the coming months;
  • In June the most frequently reported difficult-to-fill vacancies in each sector were:
    • Construction: quantity surveyors and managers
    • Industry: quality engineers and managers
    • Retail: sales assistants and service managers
    • Services: accountants and drivers