Galway city and county posted the highest increase in advertised job vacancies in the country over the first quarter of the year.

That’s according to Irish Jobs, the leading hiring platform, which revealed a staggering 22 per cent increase quarter-on-quester for Galway, well ahead of Waterford (13%), and Dublin (3%), which also recorded quarterly increases in job vacancies.

The agency pinpointed positions as Staff Nurses, Production Operators & Engineers, and Customer & Sales Assistants as some of Galway’s most in-demand roles over the quarter.

Nationally, the total number of quarterly job vacancies increased by five per cent – reflecting the continued strength of the Irish economy and labour market.

With close to record low levels of unemployment and moderate domestic growth, the Irish economy is in a strong position to navigate the economic volatility ahead.

This economic uncertainty is set to become the new normal over the coming months due to the potential introduction of trade barriers and the emergence of a more protectionist trading environment.

The uncertainty created by this shifting trading environment is already starting to impact hiring sentiment in some internationally traded sectors.

There has been no change in quarterly job vacancies in either the Science or IT sector according to the Q1 Jobs Index, indicating these sectors have adopted a “wait and see” approach to hiring.

The Science sector is composed of a wide range of Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences multinationals which are exposed to potential sector specific trade tariffs.

This cautious hiring sentiment is also evident in the IT sector, which could be impacted by retaliatory measures levied by the EU on digital service providers.

Consumer-driven sectors associated with the domestic economy, which are less directly impacted by the global trading environment experienced quarterly vacancy growth.

Retail (6%), Sport and Fitness (9%), and Sales (28%) all posted strong quarterly vacancy growth, while the Catering Sector (11%), which includes jobs in hospitality, accounted for the largest number of vacancies over the past three months.

Health (7%), Sales (7%), Management (7%), and Customer Services (6%) completed the top five sectors that made up the largest number of vacancies.

Consolidating a trend that emerged in Q3 2024, the Construction sector (5%) contributed marginally more job vacancies than the IT Sector (4.9%).

Findings from the Index show that the proportion of hybrid working vacancies as a share of total vacancies has increased to eleven per cent over the past three months.

Over the past three quarters, the number of hybrid working vacancies as a share of total vacancies has remained stable or slightly increased.

These findings suggest that hybrid working will continue to be a substantial feature of the Irish labour market over the coming months.