IrishJobs.ie CAO Report Details Labour Market Conditions for Third Level Students Report outlines how the Construction/Architecture & Property and Medical Professionals & Healthcare sectors have experienced greatest increases in job vacancies IrishJobs.ie Jobseeker Sentiment Survey reveals 85% of jobseekers believe office skills should form a part of every third level course Jobs are up 8% year on year and 4% quarter on quarter In the context of the recent first round CAO offers 2016 and students just having returned to university, IrishJobs.ie has released a special report focusing on the labour market conditions facing students entering the Irish university system. The research explores the extent to which students' third level course preferences are in line with career opportunities in the labour market. The IrishJobs.ie CAO Report was published in conjunction with the IrishJobs.ie quarterly Jobs Index and Sentiment Survey which gauges sentiment amongst almost 1,500 jobseekers across Ireland. IrishJobs.ie is Ireland s number one recruitment website, advertising on average 10,000 jobs from over 1,000 companies across Ireland. The IrishJobs.ie CAO Report reveals that while Government efforts to promote STEM related courses is working with more and more students now enrolling in STEM related courses, job vacancies in this sector have experienced the lowest growth of all sectors analysed. Meanwhile, the Construction/Architecture & Property sector is among those experiencing the strongest growth in job vacancies and has seen steady growth in university applicants in recent years. The research shows that the greatest increase in the number of CAO applicants has taken place in courses categorised as Other Healthcare, such as Occupational Therapy. This development is well matched by trends in the labour market. Job vacancies in the Medical Professionals & Healthcare sector have grown more than five-fold since 2009, representing the strongest growth of all sectors. Orla Moran, General Manager of IrishJobs.ie commented; The IrishJobs.ie CAO Report looked at students preferences and the career opportunities currently available to them. Our study shows that sectors which were badly impacted during the crash such as Construction & Architecture have bounced back which is good news for people studying and graduating from relevant courses. While jobs in the Engineering and Science sectors have experienced steady, consistent growth, the uptake of STEM related courses has also increased. This makes continued job
creation in this sector vital, ensuring graduates of the future enjoy great career opportunities. Of course it s important to keep an eye on the job market but ultimately, we would always encourage people to choose the course that plays to their strengths in a subject they are passionate about. The CAO report dovetails with the latest IrishJobs.ie Jobseeker Sentiment Survey which gauges the views of almost 1,500 jobseekers. In line with the CAO report, research shows that 74% of jobseekers are looking for employment relevant to their third level qualification. Interestingly research also shows that 85% of jobseekers believe office skills such as email etiquette, presentation skills and team leading should form part of every degree course. The latest IrishJobs.ie Quarterly Jobs Index has recorded job vacancies up 8% year-on-year while job vacancies are up 4% quarter-on-quarter. Strong annual increases are evident in Construction, Architecture, and Property; Beauty, Haircare, Leisure, and Sport; Security, Trades, and General Services; Environmental, Health, and Safety; and Production, Manufacturing, and Materials. Meanwhile the most substantial job vacancy gains were witnessed in Counties Carlow, Donegal and Monaghan. Orla Moran, General Manager of IrishJobs.ie commented; Our Job Index show an 8% growth in the number of jobs advertised on line since this time last year and a 4% growth in jobs advertised between July and September. Strong annual increases are evident for jobs in construction and manufacturing, with quarterly increases in two thirds of all sectors analysed. It s been a very positive year, so far, for the Irish job market and for Irish jobseekers. The next three months should bring the traditional surge in seasonal sectors Hospitality, Retail, etc. as well as HR managers preparing their recruitment strategies in anticipation of the increase in job hunting activity we experience every January. " ENDS For further information contact; Dan O Neill PSG Plus 01 634 2549 / 087 1232182 dan.oneill@psgplus.ie Cyril Moloney PSG Plus 01 6342509 / 086 0479462 cyril.moloney@psgplus.ie Notes to Editor Figure 1: Index of CAO applicant first preferences, 2009-2016 (2009=100)
180 160 140 120 100 80 Science/Applied Science Administration/Business Engineering/Technology Architecture Pharmacy Other Healthcare 60 40 20 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Figure 2: Index of Irishjobs.ie vacancies (selected categories), 2009-2016 (2009=100)
600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Science, Pharmacueticals & Food Management; Marketing; Admin; Sales; Accountancy & Finance; Banking & Insurance Engineering & Utilities; Environmental, Health & Safety; IT Construction, Architecture & Property Medical Professionals & Healthcare Methodological notes: Special Report First Round CAO applicant numbers were obtained from the Central Applications Office website https://www.cao.ie/. The resulting dataset was linked to combined sectoral categories employed by IrishJobs.ie. About IrishJobs.ie IrishJobs.ie is an award winning website. IrishJobs.ie currently advertises over 10,000 job vacancies sourced from nearly 1,000 active clients. IrishJobs.ie has more than 1.4 million (1,435,972) visits to the site by over 705,515 different jobseekers per month. About SaonGroup.com SaonGroup.com is a global online recruitment company with operations across three continents Europe, Africa, and the Americas and websites live in 16 countries. Every month, the Group s websites record visits in excess of 9 million. The Group established in 1995, is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.