Salary Guide 2010Since our 2009 Salary Guide the Irish employment market has clearly undergone significant changes and continues to experience very challenging economic conditions. In the midst of such uncertainty we have commissioned an “up to the minute” salary guide which we feel will be of significant benefit to both employers and job seekers alike. In April 2010 Premier Group conducted a telephone survey of over 400 senior operational and HR managers across the Finance, Office Support, Technical and IT functions to gain an insight into salary trends within their companies.The results of this survey have been combined with data collated by specialist consultants across our office network. The guide comments on how salaries have been impacted by the economic downturn and reflects on likely trends over the next 12 months. View Survey Results
“The first quarter experienced a small upswing in client enquiries for Office Support and Sales & Marketing from both existing and new clients operating across a broad industry base.” explains Ann O’Mahony, Regional Director, La Crème Dublin. “There is a more marked increase in the demand for temporary / contract staff over the permanent option, demonstrating that there is still trepidation in the market and the ‘wait and see’ approach is still prevalent. Employers are aware of the increased volume of candidates in the market and are requesting longer short lists of interviewees with the decision to hire and the hiring process becoming more protracted. Despite the increase in choice, businesses still need to move quickly with a job offer once they have identified a high calibre candidate. Candidates, particularly those who are immediately available, have become flexible in their salary expectation with job stability and long term career opportunities featuring more strongly in their decision to move than in previous years. We do not foresee any substantial salary increases this year in the sector however we believe that the Office Support job market is positive compared with six to nine months ago and our optimism continues to remain high for 2010.”
Office support, Sales & Marketing, Multi-Lingual, HR & Legal (Temporary) The demand for temporary Office Support staff continued its Q4 2009 growth into Q1 2010. This increased demand appears to be driven by tentative moves on the part of companies to re-staff their depleted work forces with a temporary resource in the short term allowing them the flexibility of either making a role permanent or not depending on market conditions.The pool of temporary workers is larger than in previous years with a consequent drop in hourly rates in most sectors of Office Support. Niche skill sets and specialist industry experience are in demand for fixed term contract roles albeit at slightly lower rates than before. 
Office support, Sales & Marketing, Multi-Lingual, HR & Legal (Permanent) After a major decline in hiring for permanent Office Support staff in 2009 there has been a small increase in activity in this sector of the recruitment market in Q1 2010. This would tie in with the growth of temporary employment in the final quarter of 2009 – a trend which traditionally is used as a leading business cycle indicator. The recruitment cycle is significantly longer than in the past as companies apply exacting standards in getting the right fit of candidate for new roles. Salaries for new hires have dropped reflecting pay cuts taken by similar staff in 2009. The sales and marketing sector also showed tentative signs of growth with demand for experienced and talented business developers and sales people across all sectors.
The office support legal market is experiencing a very small upswing as legal companies have restructured their businesses out of conveyancing and into insolvency, insurance, defence and commercial litigation. We would expect this trend to continue in 2010. Human Resources took a particularly bad hit as many companies attempted re-align their costs to the business environment of 2009. Demand still remains relatively slow in the permanent arena with some demand for more specialist HR experience specifically Change Management and Industrial Relations.
Multi-Lingual Towards the end of 2009 and Q1 2010 the increased presence and the continued growth of companies already in Ireland with a global market share has ensured that demand for multi-lingual professionals remains extremely high. Candidates with language skills continue to be in short supply with the demand for those who also speak English definitely outstripping supply. 
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