An above-inflation increase to the national minimum wage last year coincided with a substantial rise in the number of jobs advertised at the rate, according to a report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
Using an extensive survey of jobs across the economy advertised online in recent years, the study finds that while the percentage of jobs advertised at the minimum wage prior to last year was consistently in single figures, and stood at 7.7 per cent in 2023, it doubled to 15 per cent when the wage increased from €11.30 to €12.70.
The survey also notes major regional differences in the proportion of people earning the minimum wage over the years it covered.
On average, three times as many vacancies advertised in Co Donegal between 2021 and last year offered the minimum wage as the starting rate when compared to Dublin, at 22 per cent versus 7 per cent respectively.
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Last year, however, after the 12 per cent increase to the rate on January 1st, the respective numbers were 29 per cent and 11 per cent.
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While increases to the minimum wage, based on annual recommendations by the Low Pay Commission requiring approval by the Government, directly benefit those already on it, Dr Paul Redmond, one of the authors of the new research, said the findings indicate a substantial growth in the number of workers paid the minimum wage as employers failed to maintain pay differentials in their workplaces.
“We see increases to the minimum wage every year but the figures for the number of job vacancies advertised at it were fairly flat until 2024, when we see this more substantial increase in the rate, followed by a big jump in the number of jobs advertised at that new minimum rate.”
The figures, he added, suggest that tens of thousands of roles previously paid above the €11.30 minimum wage in 2023 were only brought up to the €12.70 rate at that point.
The roles most commonly attracting a minimum wage include kitchen porter, sales assistant and bar tender, with retail and hospitality the sectors in which the national minimum wage is most prevalent but, said Dr Redmond, that list also includes healthcare assistants, with one of the largest minimum wage employers being a nursing home group.
“So these are not necessarily the sort of jobs you think of when talking about the minimum wage,” he says. “These are often permanent, full-time positions, often with a requirement for a qualification, and the type of tasks the people undertake are very different to what you are talking about with the majority of minimum wage roles, providing clinical care or services to older and sick people in nursing homes.
“So the report brings home just how many of these minimum wage jobs there are out there.”
