The latest labour marker report from recruitment giant Indeed says that Dublin has continued to underperform national trends – with Dublin postings for jobs currently sitting 13% below their pre-pandemic baseline.
The 2025 Ireland Mid-Year Market Update said that the slump in Dublin reflected the greater exposure in the region to “the kinds of tech and professional occupations which have experienced some of the biggest overall declines in job postings.”
“Dublin postings currently sit 13% below their pre-pandemic baseline,” the report from Indeed’s Hiring Lab research unit said – while also noting that “of the country’s five largest counties, job postings in Kildare are furthest above the baseline” up 29% on that as of early June.
In April, a report from Irish Jobs on its Index for Q1 2025 said the data revealed a cautious approach to hiring among firms in the Science and IT sectors ahead of tariff announcements from the United States.
The tech sector, including Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, have announced job cuts – while Intel, a major employer in Kildare – is to shed at least 190 jobs here as part of a bid to axe thousands of jobs.
However, Indeed’s report today said that “recent global developments have raised concerns that Ireland is exposed to a trade war. Yet, as the OECD highlights, multinationals’ past investments in Ireland in both labour and capital may help mitigate the impact of US tariffs. Moreover, companies may be reluctant to shed too many staff given ongoing significant skills shortages.”
“Ireland’s labour market remains strong even as global uncertainties have cast doubt over the sustainability of the country’s economic model. Hiring demand has continued to gradually cool but remains at a healthy level, while joblessness remains close to record lows,” the report said, adding: “The tight labour market continues to grant workers significant leverage over pay and conditions”.
There is considerable variation in sectoral strength. Some categories have job postings well above pre-pandemic levels, including therapy, cleaning & sanitation, education & instruction and installation & maintenance. Occupations where postings are furthest below the baseline include arts & entertainment, marketing, IT operation & helpdesk and mathematics, the report found.
“The Irish unemployment rate remains historically low and at a level considered to be essentially full employment, falling to just 4.0% in May from 4.4% a year ago,” Indeed said.
Looking at five European economies and the U.S., Indeed’s data shows that job postings have fallen below pre-pandemic levels in Britain while Italy’s postings remain robust.
On hybrid work, the report found that “the share of Irish job postings mentioning remote or hybrid work remains close to peaks at almost 17% – more than 4x higher than pre-pandemic levels, despite some organisations announcing stricter office attendance policies in recent months.”
“Offering location flexibility can help organisations save costs and remains an important tool for attracting a broad range of candidates. Professional and tech categories, including IT operations & helpdesk (47%), insurance (43%) and mathematics (39%), are among the occupations with the highest shares of remote/hybrid postings.”