Irish Employers Cut Entry-Level Roles Amid Rising Costs; AI Hiring Rises
Nearly half of Irish employers, 47%, have cut entry and graduate-level positions this year, adopting a targeted hiring strategy due to rising costs. Concurrently, over a quarter of firms are recruiting for specialized AI roles. Despite this, the Irish economy continues to add jobs, with managers confident in AI's impact and valuing empathy in leadership.
Nearly half of Irish employers, 47%, have reduced entry and graduate-level roles this year, according to recruitment platform IrishJobs. This shift reflects a more targeted hiring approach due to rising costs.
The IrishJobs report, based on a survey of 500 HR professionals and almost 1,000 jobseekers, also found that over a quarter of firms are now recruiting for highly specialized roles in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. More than 80% of recruiters noted a more strategic focus on specific roles.
Despite global economic challenges, the Irish economy continues to add jobs, with a broadly positive hiring outlook and ongoing competition for talent, as stated by Julius Probst, labour economist at StepStone Group Ireland. Christopher Paye, Ireland country director for StepStone, added that hiring is becoming more selective, prioritizing specialized functions like AI and cybersecurity over broad expansion.
Separately, a report from Expleo found that 65% of Irish managers remained confident about AI's impact on their businesses in April, unchanged from March. Irish managers also showed a higher propensity to value empathy as a fundamental skill for managers in the AI era, with 28% citing it, compared to 21% in the UK, 15% in France, and 18% in Germany. Phil Codd, Expleo Ireland managing director, highlighted this as a sign of AI maturity, emphasizing that people, not AI, transform organizations.