Focus: competition for employees heightens as labour market tightens

The labour market across the agri-food sector remains tight with unemployment sitting at 4.3%, which means Ireland is close to full employment.

This is leading to increased competition for talent across the industry with employees demanding higher salaries and a better work-life balance. As a result, they hold the bargaining tools

Since the year 2000, employment in Ireland is up 56% (from 1.75m to 2.75m). In 2000, employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing made up 7.3% of all jobs.

Today, it makes up 3.9%, demonstrating the decline of people working in the sector. The health sector, on the other hand, made up 8% of all jobs in Ireland in 2000, but now accounts for 13.7%.

This change over the past 24 years shows how Ireland is both an economy that provides a much wider range of jobs for people, but also that it has a population which is ageing and requires more healthcare.

That trend is set to continue with ESRI projections showing that by 2040 the percentage of the population over 65, will have risen to 21% (from the current 15%).

Sector changes

This year has seen several changes to the agricultural industry in terms of employment with the large milk suppliers letting go of staff. There is a cautious feeling among production areas to see if more layoffs will follow.

Along with this, there has been a notable slowdown in new job positions and movement across the sector for the first time since pre-pandemic levels.

While Q1 started extremely strong for movement, Q2 and Q3 were much quieter, especially for mid-career movers and managers.

We saw new CEOs appointed in leading organisations, resulting in a lot of top career and bottom career movements.

The percentage of job postings requiring green (sustainability) skills in Ireland is one of the highest internationally, with 12.4% of Irish jobs now requiring at least one green skill. Demand for green talent grew 22.1% between 2023 and 2024.

Another significant change to the employment market over the last two years has been the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) among both employees and HR managers.

People are now using these advanced technologies and ChatGPT bots to help with day-to-day tasks resulting in more efficiency.

On page 52, we look at how AI is changing the workplace and what precautions need to be taken to keep information secure.

Skill shortages and lack of local talent are challenges that continue to affect employers across the sector.

See our industry survey results on page 48.

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