Recruitment agency forecasting 20% jobs growth in Cork county

THE number of job opportunities in Cork will grow by 20% in the coming year, according to a new forecast from FRS Recruitment, one of the country’s leading recruitment agencies. 

This follows on from the 15% increase experienced in Cork in 2022.

Cork was one of the counties to record the highest jump in recruitment over the last 12 months. 

The other counties to experience a double digit growth included Dublin (up 36%), Clare (up 31%), Wicklow (up 34%), Sligo (up 15%) and Roscommon, which recorded the highest year on year increase with the number of roles more than doubling (up 101%). 

A total of 18 out of the 26 counties in the Republic experienced an increase in openings in 2022. 

The largest decreases came in Kerry (down 10%), Leitrim, (down 9%) and Louth (down 7%). 

Nationally the number of job postings handled by FRS Recruitment rose by 32% in 2022, reaching a total of 107,802 – up from 81,528 in 2021. 

Year-on-year the monthly increase was across 11 of the 12 months and illustrated the return of the market to post pandemic normality.

Despite the surge in opportunities available, the number of people applying for jobs was down last year. 

FRS Recruitment recorded a total of 123,305 job responses in 2022 as it became a “candidates’ market” in some sectors. This meant the average response rate per role was at 1.14, down from 1.66 in 2021. 

On a sub sector level the largest increase in roles experienced in 2022 was in Banking & Financial Services, which were up 106%. 

This was followed by opportunities in IT – software development (up 67%) and IT – support services (up 46%). 

Significant growth was also recorded in arts, entertainment and recreation (up 43%), education & training (up 31%) and professional services & practices (up 25%). 

FRS Recruitment forecasting further growth in IT, construction and healthcare recruitment for the year ahead, describing these sectors as “relatively inelastic”. 

The analysis is contained in FRS Recruitment’s ‘2022 Review and 2023 Trend Forecast’ Report. 

Speaking about the report, Lynne McCormack, general manager with FRS Recruitment said, ‘We are confident that we will see further growth in recruitment opportunities in Cork for the year ahead. We experienced a very strong year in Cork last year and our belief is that this will continue over the coming 12 months.

‘Both in Cork and nationally we believe there will be strong opportunities in the IT, healthcare and construction sectors.

Not all parts of the economy will rise in 2023, but we are very optimistic about the prospects in those particular sectors.’