Demand for staff falls 21% - survey
The demand for workers in Ireland has fallen by 21% in the past year, according to a survey conducted by the Small Firms Association.
The SFA’s annual employment survey also recorded a 31% decline in companies seeking to recruit staff and a 50% fall in the availability of part-time work.
SFA director Pat Delaney said 42% of the companies involved in the survey cited unrealistic wage expectations as their reasons for not hiring staff and predicted a drop of 10,000 in the number of projected new jobs for this year.
"The survey shows that the labour market is now less rigid, but the companies who are prepared to create jobs are being hindered by lack of skills and unrealistic wage expectations," Mr Delaney said.
"If we do not increase our skill levels and moderate our wage expectations, we are writing our own epitaph."
