FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey: January, February and March 2005

July 14, 2005

News

14/07/2005



FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey: January, February and March 2005

Embargo: 00:01 Thursday 14 July 2005

This is the first electronic bulletin reporting the results of the FÁS/ESRI Employment and Vacancies Survey. It presents in a new form the results of the FÁS/ESRI monthly vacancies and employment survey which has been undertaken since May 2002. 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 first three months of 2005. The results for April, May and June 2005 will be presented in the next bulletin. 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 January, February and March 2005:

  • Overall employment in the private sector is expected to rise over the coming months as employer expectations regarding future employment reached their most optimistic levels since June 2002;
  • The percentage of private sector firms reporting vacancies increased during the first three months of 2005 reaching 10 per cent in March;
  • The services sector experienced the most significant increase in the percentage of firms reporting vacancies from 6 per cent in December 2004 to 14 per cent in March 2005;
  • The percentage of retail sector firms reporting vacancies remained very low at 1 per cent;
  • The retail sector experienced an improvement in employer expectations regarding future employment with employers now feeling more optimistic about future employment levels in their firms;
  • In March the most frequently difficult-to-fill vacancies in each sector were:
    • Construction - Quantity surveyors
    • Industry - Sales representatives
    • Retail - Sales agents and shop assistants
    • Services - Drivers and catering staff.