Projecting a 9 per cent growth of recruitment in a range of local sectors varying from IT, and healthcare to commercial sectors, Galway is expected to enter a golden year for employers and employees alike in 2025.
According to leading recruitment agency, FRS Recruitment, Galway's 9 per cent rise in recruitment mirrors the predicted 10 per cent national increase in 2025. In Galway, the IT, healthcare and commercial sectors are expected to see the strongest level of growth, mirroring national predictions which are also projected to see an increase in industrial, life sciences, agribusiness and construction.
What does this mean for potential employees?
Promising and overall rise in available jobs, some of the specific roles that FRS Recruitment expect to become highly sought after locally include occupational therapists, physiotherapists, developers, retail staff and clerical officers.
According to FRS Recruitment, the expectation of increased job opportunities locally and nationally comes with several positive factors likely to influence recruitment across the economy in 2025. These include the anticipated reduction in interest rates, the recovery of the IT sector, more employers seeking to grow their teams after consolidating in 2024, more flexibility in the market with candidates seeking out new opportunities and the removal of the public sector hiring freeze in healthcare.
FRS Recruitment expects that this will result in noted significant growth in the number of roles coming to the job market in the last quarter of 2024. This end of year is expected both in Galway and on a national level, with employers already 'signalling a strong pipeline of demand for new staff for the year ahead'.
'Quite a bit of movement locally'
Discussing the company's projected outlook for the market this year, Lynne McCormack, General Manager of FRS Recruitment said, “We certainly think there will be an increase in recruitment opportunities coming to market in Galway and around the country this year. There is more optimism in the market from employers and candidates alike. We saw this start to come through at the end of 2024 and our full expectation is that this will continue locally and nationally throughout 2025.
“For example, we already have a significant number of employers in Galway who either have openings available or are preparing to bring them to market in the near future. They are making plans to grow their teams and we fully expect to see quite a bit of movement locally, especially in sectors like IT, healthcare and commercial.
“This comes after a very challenging year for recruitment in 2024, both in Galway and beyond. There was certainly a strong degree of caution in the marketplace last year as employers decided to concentrate on maintaining their existing teams and asking their staff to do more in light of wider economic concerns, high interest rates, cost of business challenges and other considerations."
"Qualified candidates were also taking a similar outlook, with many potential candidates seeking to enhance their terms and conditions with their existing employers rather than pursuing fresh opportunities. Candidates were primarily playing it safe."
Strong pipeline of recruitment activity
Despite the lull in recruitment activity in 2024, the projected increase of opportunities got off to an early start according to Ms McCormack, with FRS Recruitment noting an increased number of candidates reaching out to the organisation.
“However we can already see that perspective has shifted. We’ve had a range of highly qualified candidates reach out to us either side of Christmas expressing their desire to be considered should new opportunities become available this year.
"There is also a strong pipeline of recruitment activity coming from employers locally. All things considered, we expect this will lead to a rise in recruitment activity in Galway and around the country throughout 2025 and there will be a lot more opportunities both coming to market and being successfully filled this year."
