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New Report Highlights Jobs in Demand – Launch of National Skills Bulletin
The National Skills Bulletin, launched today (Friday 28th October) and the first in a series to be published annually, provides a detailed overview of the Irish labour market. It is based on the research conducted by the Skills and Labour Market Research Unit of FÁS on behalf of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs.
Anne Heraty, chairperson of the Expert Group commented “the Bulletin provides a comprehensive picture in relation to skills and labour availability within the economy”.
The National Skills Bulletin 2005 combines a range of statistics on employment and vacancies and describes current trends in the labour market from an economy wide view to occupational level. A spectrum of occupations is profiled to illustrate recent developments regarding labour demand and highlight areas of labour and skill shortage. The report also contains an update on non-national employment in Ireland.
“The Expert Group would like to call on education providers, enterprise
and the state agencies to reinforce the message that there is a continuing
requirement for students in the areas of science, ICT and Engineering
and that these areas of study offer significant potential for students,
” commented Ms Heraty.
Key Findings:
- Overall employment has grown strongly in recent years, while unemployment fell significantly, standing at 4.3%
- Manufacturing and agriculture were the only sectors to experience a decline in employment over the last five years, with employment in construction experiencing the most significant growth
- Within the manufacturing sector, employment has been declining in textile and clothing; metals; and paper, printing and publishing sub-sectors
- There is a steady inflow of labour from non-EU sources through the work permit and work visa schemes
- Skills shortages have been identified in construction (architects, civil engineers, planners, quantity surveyors, project managers, experienced site managers, bricklayers, plasterers, carpenters, floorers, and painters and decorators), financial services (accountants and tax experts; actuaries; underwriters, financial, investment and risk analysts; fund managers), engineering (design and production engineers, electronic and electrical engineers, manufacturing and multi-skilled maintenance technicians, some of metal forming, welding and related trades), IT (computer analysts/programmers, software engineers), pharmaceuticals (chemical engineers, research scientists), healthcare (medical practitioners, dentists, therapists (including dieticians) and radiographers, nurses and social workers), transport (integrated supply chain managers; heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers; freight forwarding officers; customs clearance, import/export documentation processing and logistics planning clerks), sales (technical sales representatives and marketing personnel) and catering (chefs) sectors
- Labour shortages have been identified in financial services (fund accountants, fund administrators, shareholder services staff, pension administrators and claims processors), food manufacturing (butchers and de-boners), healthcare (care assistants/attendants), services (security guard and waiters/waitresses) and sales (sales assistants) sectors
The information contained in the National Skills Bulletin is particularly relevant to policy makers in the area of labour market, education and migration, as well as persons providing and seeking career guidance.
The full bulletin can be accessed at www.skillsireland.com
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