In order to evaluate trends over the past 12 months and intentions for the year ahead, RECRUITERS sought the views and insights of more than 4,000 senior business leaders and hiring managers across Ireland. The data is based on a nationwide survey we conducted in October 2021 from businesses of different sizes and industries in Ireland.
Employers are optimistic about the wider economy
77% of employers are optimistic about the Irish economy in 2022, up from 64% in 2021. Those that are not so optimistic (23%) include professionals in the tourism, entertainment, finance, construction, manufacturing and retail sectors.
Companies have the skills they need to achieve their 2022 company objectives
The majority, 56% of employers, claim they currently have access to the talent and skills they need to achieve their 2022 company objectives (up from 40% in 2021). 68% of these employers still planning on hiring more talent in 2022 despite this access. Of those that don’t have the talent or skills needed to achieve 2022 objectives (44% of respondents), the majority of these (71%) are small and medium-sized enterprises of between 11 and 500 staff.
Recruitment plans continue for the year ahead with permanent jobs on the rise
Overall, most employers (85%) expect to hire new staff in 2022. Of those planning to hire, 67% of employers plan on hiring permanent staff only (up from 53% in 2021), 3% plan on hiring all contracting and temporary workers only (2021: 4%) and 30% plan on hiring a mixture of permanent and contract workers in 2022.
Furthermore, when asked why they plan on hiring staff in 2022, the majority (50%) said they needed new staff to implement new strategies and demands (2021: 57%). 25% are hiring new staff to meet peaks in the demand in 2022 (2021: 27%), 16% expect to hire new staff to overcome staff attrition and 9% need to hire new staff in order to rebuild their teams from 2020/2021 (up from 5% in 2021).
With business optimism and accelerated hiring demands, salaries are also expected to increase in 2022
Last year, nearly all employers (64%) predicted that salaries would remain the same in 2021. However, this was not the case with 65% of employers actually implementing salary increases in 2021. This growth in salaries is set to continue in 2022 with 66% predicting further increases, 34% expecting salaries to remain the same and 0% predicting salary decreases (down from 3% in 2021).
The majority of employers focused on increasing and retaining staff in 2021
In 2021, most employers (49%) focused on hiring new staff compared to 34% in 2020. 43% of employers focused on retaining existing staff (2020: 51%) with the majority operating in the software and IT services and Finance sectors. Only 8% of employers focused on reducing staff in 2021 (2020: 15%).
Salary increases were firmly on the agenda in 2021 to attract and retain talent
The vast majority of employers (99%) said that their company did not implement salary cuts in 2021 (up from 79% in 2020). Of those that increased salaries in 2021, the majority (63%) implemented salary increases of up to 5% with 28% of employers implementing salaries increases of between 6% and 10%.
Career opportunities and flexible work trump company culture and perks and benefits in 2022
Salary aside, careers opportunities topped the list of staff-retention tactics for 2022 followed by flexible working conditions in second and company culture in third (number 1 in 2021). Training and development is considered more important to retaining staff in 2022 compared to 2021 according to both employers and employees. It is also widely considered a top solution for overcoming the hiring challenges the lay ahead in 2022. The bottom three staffretention tactics, albeit still highly important, were: Internal communication, company brand and company tech stacks.
Attracting the right talent with the right skills still remains the biggest challenge for employers, two years in a row
Overall, most employers feel that attracting the right talent with the right skills will be the biggest challenge when hiring in 2022. The second biggest challenge for employers hiring good talent is competition from other employers (up one place from third position in 2021), followed by a shortage of suitable applicants applying to their roles (down one from 2021). As we gained more confidence working remotely in 2021, hiring and onboarding new staff remotely fell two places to sixth as employers feel hiring budget constraints and not meeting salary expectations as bigger challenges in 2022.
The future of work is hybrid
The vast majority of employers (60%) are implementing hybrid working models at their businesses after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Only 4% are implementing fully remote working models in an effort to boost relations and collaborations among the team. Interestingly, 8% plan on operating a fully office working model, the majority being within the legal, construction, media and entertainment industries. A surprising 29% of respondents plan on implementing different working models to suit individual employees and teams. This allows for great flexibility but also adds new layers of management complexity into the workplace.
