Salaries are expected to increase by five to 10 per cent across many sectors as the majority of people consider a career move within the next year, according to Morgan McKinley.
The 2022 Irish Salary Guide from the Irish-owned global recruitment consultancy, which analyses pay across a range of professions and sectors, predicts salaries will rise between 15 and 20 per cent for certain niches skills in demand.
Upward pressure on salaries has been driven by a reduction in mobility of international talent and a corresponding demand for workers already in location, Morgan McKinley said.
It said it expects normal inflationary figures between two and five per cent “to come back into play in a post-pandemic world as countries open up and the flow of external candidates into Ireland takes pressure out of an overheated employment market.”
Trayc Keevans, global FDI director at Morgan McKinley Ireland, said the “great resignation of the past year appears to be still in full swing” amid “the most demanding employment markets of our time.”
“The experience of the sustained public health emergency has prompted countless workers to re-evaluate their work options, fine-tuning a better work-life balance and making deliberate choices as to where their careers are heading next,” she said.
“They’re looking for opportunities that give them the right pay, benefits, and work arrangements in the longer term. New opportunities opened up by remote work means workers can now access roles that previously were geographically off-limits.
“As a result, there is a constant misalignment between the supply and demand for employees in the market. We’re experiencing the return of counter offers because there is a strong demand to fill roles.”
82 per cent of people are considering a career move in the next six to 12 months, Morgan McKinley found in a survey of key hiring decision makers from 62 companies and 4,134 professionals across Ireland, the UK, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Japan and Canada.
Asked if they would consider leaving their current organisation if they were not provided with their preferred flexible working options, 75 per cent of respondents said yes.
A third of respondents favoured working one or two mandatory days in the office per week, while 29 per cent wanted to work from home all the time, and 22 per cent said they would prefer two or three days in the office.
Ms Keevans said many employers are either adjusting their working models to hybrid or fully remote or offering higher wages as a means of attracting talent.
Other additional supports include paid relocation assistance, learning and development plans to support career progression, and flexibility in where talent can work from, including an openness to facilitating people working from their native country.
Sectors
When it comes to specific sectors, Morgan McKinley said advancements in technology and IT “are not resulting in the displacement of jobs, rather they are creating more jobs as the drive for developing capability in AI, robotics, machine learning requires human input.”
The most in-demand positions for IT in 2022 will be in data analytics, it said, with strong demand for DevOps talent also. Demand for software engineers “continues unabated,” along with a surge in demand for cybersecurity professionals due to the pandemic.
The cryptocurrencies sector has also begun to create more employment opportunities in Ireland over the past 12 months and this is expected to continue, it added.
In the science sector, the recruitment consultancy said Irish pharma talent “are at the coalface for opportunities resulting from emerging trends in Cell & Gene Therapy (CGT), Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs), novel vaccines, and medtech.”
The best-performing sectors for engineering talent through 2022 will continue to be data centres, pharma, energy, medical devices, automotive and food production. There is also a growth in demand for sustainability engineers, primarily within the energy sector.
When it comes to the financial services, the rise of Irish management companies following the catalyst of Brexit shows few signs of abating, Morgan McKinley said, resulting in high demand for Designated Person roles and other Pre-Approval Control Function (PCF) talent.
The recruitment consultancy said “the future is bright” for the careers of accountancy and finance professionals in Ireland across all levels in 2022, with newly qualified talent in the “Big 4” firms continuing to be sought after.
Increased demand for supply chain roles such as freight associate is expected to continue into 2022, it added.
Demand for communications talent within business has also increased since lockdown due to communication requirements for digital brand awareness, as well as the need to better develop internal communications strategies to deal with remote working.
Demand for construction talent is global, Morgan McKinley said, as economies begin to recover and grow, meaning the gap between available skills to meet the delivery of committed projects such as data centres and residential construction is likely to grow in 2022.
