EGFSN Publishes National Skills Bulletin 2016

The National Skills Bulletin 2016 is the latest in an annual series of reports, which provides an overview of the Irish labour market at occupational level.

The latest edition of the Bulletin outlines further improvements in the Irish labour market during 2015, which include increases in employment and labour force and declines in the number of unemployed, long-term unemployed and underemployed persons. Despite these improvements, challenges remain in relation to outward migration, new entrants to the labour market and persons with less than higher secondary education attainment.

With improved performance of all sectors of the economy, shortages are intensifying in the following areas: ICT, engineering, sales/customer care, logistics, health, business and finance. Strong growth in the construction sector has led to a sharp decline in the number of unemployed persons previously employed in this sector and an emergence of shortages of certain skills (project managers, surveyors and steel erectors/fixers).

As employment prospects continue to improve across all sectors of the economy, an increasing number of employers are experiencing issues with attracting and retaining employees. Higher than average employee turnover has been identified for a number of occupations, including care workers, sales workers, general clerks, elementary occupations (e.g. waiters, cleaners, catering assistants, security workers), as well as some highly skilled occupations (e.g. IT professionals).

The information presented in the Bulletin informs policy formulation in the areas of employment, education/training, career guidance and immigration. The Bulletin also aims to assist students, job seekers, persons returning to the labour force, investors and employers in making labour market decisions.

Read the full report here