FAS/ESRI Employment And Vacancies Survey: October 2005

November 17, 2005

17/11/2005

Embargo: 1:00 a.m. on Thursday 17 November 2005

Key findings of the report for the month of October 2005:

Overall, employment in the private sector is expected to fall over the coming months;
The percentage of private sector firms reporting vacancies increased in October with 12 per cent of firms across all sectors reporting vacancies;
The construction, retail and services sectors all experienced increases in the percentage of firms reporting vacancies while the percentage of retail firms with vacancies was stable;
Employers in the industry and retail sectors believe that employment levels in their firms will fall rather than rise over the coming months;
Service sector firms are anticipating no change in employment levels in the near future while construction sector firms are optimistic about future employment levels;
In October 2005 the most frequently cited difficult-to-fill vacancies in each sector were: