European Centre of Expertise (ECE) in the Field of Labour Law, Employment and Labour Market Policies

📖 The Scoop

The Irish labour market continues to perform well with the unemployment rate declining steadily from a peak of 14.7% in 2012 to 4.6% in July 2019. This figure equates to 111 400 persons unemployed (CSO, 2019). The New Pathways to Work strategy shifted from 'activation in a time of recession' to 'activation in a time of recovery and growth' (DSP, 2016). Falling unemployment levels mean that adults remaining outside paid employment are often those who face an array of disadvantages and require appropriate preparation before they can be considered 'employment-ready'. However, the evidence relating to the extent of skill imbalances within the Irish labour market is quite mixed despite the fact that unemployment in Ireland remains relatively low. On the one hand we have a series of publications based on occupational forecasting models and vacancy data that suggests the existence of skill shortages, while other studies indicate that Ireland has one of the highest incidences of overeducation and overskilling in Europe (Flisi et al., 2014, Redmond and Whelan, 2017, National Skills Bulletin, 2018 and McGuinness et al., 2018). Of course, skill shortages and overskilling are not mutually exclusive and can occur simultaneously, especially if each type of imbalance relates to different sectors of the economy.

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