Pay rises are stalling or slowing as employers trim costs and ease recruitment, recruitment group Morgan McKinley says in a new report.
Permanent salaries are up less than 2 per cent this year, lagging cost-of-living increases, or staying flat, according to the report.
Employers have also slowed the rate at which they hire workers, according to Tracy Keevans, the firm’s global FDI director.
“We do not see really high-volume recruitment in the manner in which we used to see it,” she said in advance of the report’s publication on Thursday. “Companies are hiring fewer people and they are definitely doing more with the workers they have.”
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The latest employment trend stems from a combination of cost discipline and the impact of technology, AI in particular, Keevans noted. “But it’s hard to understand which is which,” she said.
[ Ireland and younger workers ‘most exposed’ to AI impact on jobsOpens in new window ]
Hiring is also more selective, with companies focusing on compliance, regulatory risk and governance, Keevans said.
The building sector remains one of the few exceptions, with the industry seeking to hire large numbers of skilled and professional workers.
Construction in the Republic is gearing up to build more homes and work on big projects earmarked under the Government’s €275 billion National Development Plan.
Keevans said bigger employers’ slowdown in graduate recruitment benefited smaller businesses, which were able to hire more people with college degrees as a result.
Bankers remain among the Republic’s best-paid workers, with chief executives drawing salaries between €300,000 and €500,000 a year, Morgan McKinley’s Ireland Salary Guide 2026 shows.
The firm’s report does not include building trades’ pay, but shows salaries paid to professional workers in the industry.
Architects with more than five years’ experience can earn up to €90,000 a year in Dublin, the figures show. In Cork, the same worker can also earn up to €90,000, while pay in other cities reaches €80,000, Morgan McKinley says.
