Almost one in four Irish employees received no rise in salary this year and salaries in some sectors have fallen by as much as €15,000, according to a new survey. Recruitment company Rescon, which conducted the survey, blamed slowing global economic conditions.

The survey revealed a significant fall-off in the numbers of non-EU nationals being hired by Irish firms.

It also shows many employees who receive bonuses as part of their remuneration have had those bonuses held over.

The slowdown in salary increases was most evident in the information technology sector. In recent years, salary increases in the sector have run at 8.6 per cent, way ahead of the rate of inflation. Since the beginning of this year, remuneration has been realigned to more sustainable levels, according to Ms Nessa Butler, chief executive of Rescon.

Overall, the order books of Irish companies are beginning to fill up and the jobs market is beginning to improve, according to Ms Butler.

"That hasn't converted into a significant amount of extra people being hired but we think \ is headed for a recovery," she said.

Some 57 per cent of workers in the IT sector who were due to get bonuses have had those payments held over, according to the survey. And in many cases IT salaries have declined by as much as €10,000 to €15,000 since the beginning of the year.

The best performer in the period was the finance sector, where stability has been the order of the day. Finance firms have enjoyed higher staff-retention levels, particularly at middle and senior management levels.

The Rescon survey also reveals a shift in priorities for workers. Last year higher salaries were at the top of the wish-list for workers; now 67 per cent see stability and reputation of a company as of prime importance.