ERSI predicts annual increase of 35,000 jobs
In its latest employment forecast report the ESRI has predicted that employment growth will be strongest in Dublin over the next six years, with the overall proportion of women in employment on the increase.
The research institute said we can expect the Irish economy to create an average of 35,000 new jobs annually over the next six years. This represents an annual increase of 2% each year, which is a noticeable difference to the 4% annual increase between 1991 and 2001.
The greatest growth will be in the service sector, and most of the new jobs will be high skilled, generating a considerable demand for those with third level qualifications. The institute raised concerns that the economy may not have enough third level graduates to meet demand over the coming years.
Over the six years employment growth is expected to be higher in the Dublin, MidEast (DUBME) region at 2.5%, despite Government plans to promote more regional development. The Border, Midlands, West (BMW) region and the Rest of the State (REST) will see an annual increase of 1.5%.
The proportion of women in employment over the three regions is forecast to increase from 40% in 2001 to 44% in 2010. This is substantially higher than the proportion of women in employment in the 1990s which was just over 35%.
The ESRI said that the female share of employment in the DUBME region was just under 43%, compared with 38% in the BMW and REST regions. However greater convergence here seems to be the trend with the forecasts for 2010 indicating a female employment proportion of just under 46% in DUBME and 43% in the other two regions.
