Despite recession concerns, employers globally are poised to continue hiring much needed talent

In the latest edition of the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey of 40,700 employers around the world, 39 of 41 countries and territories are still expecting to hire more workers in the fourth quarter of 2022.

From an Irish perspective the survey based on responses from 408 employers across Ireland reported their lowest quarterly hiring intentions so far this year. Dublin employers’ hiring intentions are also down 25pc, and the survey says this is driven by the decline in the tech sector. But the survey also finds the Dublin-based banking and finance sector is reporting the strongest fourth quarter outlook on record, and hiring is strong in the regions, including Connacht.

John Galvin, managing director of ManpowerGroup Ireland said, “Businesses that drove hiring confidence in the tech & IT sector over the last year are now having to reduce workers rather than take on new staff for growth,”

“Layoffs in the tech and IT sector have become much more prominent in the last quarter, a shift driven by large tech companies who may have over-hired coming out of the pandemic as their markets reopened and now find themselves with a surplus of employees, which is now ­forcing them to divest recent hires and retract some job offers,”.

“Despite this, hiring overall remains in double digits, driven largely by small and medium sized firms outside the big-tech space”.

In a separate survey also out this week, Aon’s M&A in Ireland Report shows more than a quarter of businesses weighing making an acquisition or disposal are motivated by staff shortages. While just 18pc of Irish firms would consider a merger or acquisition (M&A) in the next one to two years, 28pc would do so to find workers. It was the third-biggest reason to engage in M&A activity, the survey found, after the desire to increase “business efficiencies” and to protect and grow market share.

See the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey here