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2017 Abrivia/Trinity Salary Survey highlights issues around pension & rents

Posted on: 09 January 2017

This year the  annual Abrivia Recruitment Salary Survey and Employment Trends was undertaken in association with the Trinity Business School.

Managing director of Abrivia Recruitment, Donal O’Brien said: “We are delighted to partner with the Trinity Business School for our seventh annual salary survey.  Our team of experts at Abrivia and Trinity Business School have provided rich and comprehensive insights into the Irish employment market against the background of the current economic landscape.”

The data was compiled from a survey of 7,400 companies and 40,000 employees across multiple industry sectors. The economic commentary was written by Professor in Finance, Brian Lucey with analysis from  Research Associate/Adjunct lecturer, Dr Charles Larkin and in collaboration with Associate Professor in Human Resource Management, Dr Na Fu, Trinity Business School.

Donal O’Brien, said: “77% of employees expect to receive a pay increase in 2017. 84% of firms expect to hire more staff, with 75% of firms increasing salaries by up to 5% in 2016. 80% expect to increase salaries again in 2017 by a similar amount. From a recruitment perspective, the challenges facing companies this year will be focused around new talent acquisition and of course the retention of key team members. With this in mind, companies are already investing in retention tools along with clear people development strategies.”

Professor Brian Lucey commented “The most recent estimates have suggested that GDP growth this year will reach 4.9%, the highest in the European Union. This is despite the economic uncertainty caused by Brexit and inflated GDP figures in 2015 which saw the CSO revise growth figures upwards from 7.8% to 26.3%, due to an unexpected windfall from a few companies in the multi-national sector. However, this source of growth is volatile and should not be relied upon year after year.”

For the full survey download, including extensive commentary and salary breakdown by role and sector, go to www.abrivia.ie  

Donal O'Brien, managing director, Abrivia Recruitment with Prof Brian Lucey & Dr Charles Larkin.

SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS

Employers

  • 87% of companies in the ICT sector are planning to increase headcount, some by up to 50%, and 69% plan to increase salaries by 3% or higher in 2017.
  • Marketing, Sales and ICT sectors are forecasting the greatest number of hires in 2017 with Legal close behind
  • 36% of employers said ICT roles were the most difficult to fill
  • Engineering, project management, quantity surveying and other construction related roles are now becoming more difficult to fill. 
  • 58% of employers in the ICT sector see the cost of rental accommodation as a challenge to recruitment
  • Brexit – human resources professionals are the most concerned, saying that job mobility prospects  between Ireland and the UK and between the UK and Europe could be disastrously affected.
  • 50% of employers feel that the marginal tax rate is making it difficult to attract overseas talent
  • 41% of employers said that the shortage of rental accommodation was affecting their ability to recruit staff.
  • 77% of employers increased their headcount in 2016, with 84% planning new hires in 2017, with ICT and Sales departments as the targeted growth areas.
  • The numbers of Irish returning from overseas is still low, over 50% of employers said that none of their current workforce included Irish returnees.  
  • Almost one third of employers said they expected to lose staff because of increasing rents
  • 72% of employers plan to pay bonuses in 2017.
  • Almost 63% of employers said that ‘Millennials’, born between 1980-2000, were the hardest to manage but human resources professionals cited ‘Baby Boomers, (born between 1946-1964) as the most difficult, probably reflecting the pressures of staff approaching pension age.

Employees

  • 47% of employees living outside Dublin said they would need a salary increase of over 20% to move to Dublin for work.
  • 80% of employees are in favour of a six hour working day
  • One-fifth of those said their salary couldn’t accommodate the rental increases they experienced in the past year.
  • 45% of employees surveyed said they would only be prepared to drop their salary by less than 3% to work outside Dublin
  • 44% of employees surveyed said they had no private pension, with over half of those saying they had no plans to put one in place in 2017.
  • 79% said a negative review of a company’s working environment would influence their decision to attend an interview or accept a role
  • A reputation for diversity was also cited by around 40% of employees as having ‘some impact’ on their decision to accept a job
  • Glassdoor is now the most popular for company reviews, followed by Irishjobs, Indeed and Twitter

 

Professor Brian Lucey commented, “FDI inflows in 2015 were equivalent to 50% of GDP. By value, 90% of Irish exports are conducted by these multinational companies. The top 20 firms for exports are all multinationals making up 60% of exports and 13% of employment. 40% of all corporate taxes are paid by the top 10 FDI firms. The Abrivia Salary Survey is made up of respondents who are 56% MNC employers, which provides a good overview of what is taking place in this important sector of the Irish economy.”