​With the recent announcement by the Irish government that many industries will at long last begin to reopen, it seems that we’re set for a return to some semblance of normality. But believe it or not, even before Taoiseach Micheál Martin made his speech in Dublin on Thursday evening, the recruitment industry in Ireland was already preparing for a busy second half of 2021. 

Of course, those of you who are familiar with the recruitment industry will know that a recruiter is always busy. In fact, throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen many companies not only continue with their recruitment efforts but set new goals as they worked to meet increased demand. 

However, while many companies learned a lot about themselves during the pandemic and embraced the remote work culture, there has still been something of a shortfall in qualified candidates for the open roles around Ireland. This is partly due to travel restrictions preventing overseas candidates from relocating to Ireland but also because a large percentage of passive candidates who may have been willing to change roles pre-pandemic have decided to stick with their current employer through the hard times. 

But as international travel looks set to resume in the near future and Ireland returns to normal, let’s take a look at just how positive an outlook the country has in terms of job opportunities.  

Opportunities abound

According to Tony Donohoe, chairman of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), Ireland will see a huge increase in new job opportunities in the near future. In an Irish Times article in January of this year, he predicted that the ICT, pharma and finance industries combined could create as many as 75,000 new jobs in Ireland over the coming years. 

And then in March, 18 companies announced plans to expand their Irish workforces as soon as possible. 

These companies are:

• Anaeko

• Enterpryze

• FoodMarble

• Frankli

• Green Rebel Marine

• Intact

• Intel

• Motoklik

• Okto

• Payroc

• SITA

• SL Controls

• Sogeti

• Stripe

• Triangle

• Vyta

• Web Summit

• Workday

Makes for an impressive list, and that’s before we mention the fact that Amazon Web Services, Citi, Huawei, Mastercard, Siemens, Verizon, and Viasat are all currently hiring for a variety of engineering positions. 

So let’s take a closer look at some of the biggest opportunities on the list. 

Enterpryze

Enterpryze is an Irish software company based in Dublin and founded by Morgan Browne. The company recently announced that it would be creating 100 new positions over the next two years including both engineering and DevOps roles. 

Amazon Web Services

Amazon recently announced that it will expand its Irish operations and as such is now recruiting for engineering roles in Dublin. As the brand moves towards establishing an Irish fulfillment centre, there could be many more opportunities with the company over the next year. 

Intel

Intel has been a stalwart in the Irish semiconductor industry for many years now and the company has shown no signs of slowing down. The company has announced that it will create a further 1600 jobs at its Leixlip campus over the next few years. 

Huawei

The Chinese tech giant announced that it will create a further 110 jobs in Ireland by 2022. That will bring the total number of jobs created by the company since 2019 to 310. The new jobs will be in R&D and IT development. 

Workday

US software firm Workday recently announced that it will create 400 new jobs at its European headquarters in Dublin. The move will see the company grow its Irish workforce by an incredible 30% and its recruitment drive has already started. 

Stripe

One of the biggest Irish success stories in recent years, Stripe has announced that it will create 1,000 new jobs in Ireland over the next 5 years. The company currently employs 300 people in its Dublin office and the new roles will include quite a few engineering opportunities. 

The future is bright for candidates

As mentioned earlier, the recruitment industry has remained quite busy throughout the last year despite the economic downturn caused by the global pandemic. There have been plenty of opportunities here in Ireland for both local talent and those living abroad. 

But with the creation of these new roles, we can see the market becoming even more candidate-centric than ever before. As companies scramble to snap up the brightest talent on the market, we’ll likely see more emphasis placed on benefits, particularly remote working opportunities. 

Whatever happens, one thing is sure — the future is looking very bright indeed for candidates looking for roles here in Ireland. 

Thinking about a change of scenery or looking for a new challenge? Software Placements is ideally placed to help both international and locally-based candidates find the right role in the coming months. So drop us a line or give us a call and let’s talk about opportunities.

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