Recruiters report extended hiring timelines for permanent roles while most employers keep pay rates unchanged amid steady demand for talent.
The time required to fill permanent positions in Ireland is increasing, even as salary growth shows signs of stabilising.
That’s according to the latest Irish Labour Monthly Monitor from the Employment and Recruitment Federation (ERF).
“The standout signal in this month’s data is the lengthening time it is taking to fill permanent roles”
The June 2026 edition of the report, which reflects recruitment activity during May, found that 63% of recruitment professionals experienced longer hiring timelines for permanent roles compared with three months earlier. Just 4% reported a reduction in time-to-hire, while 33% said recruitment timelines remained unchanged.
The trend was also evident in contract recruitment, with 43% of respondents reporting longer hiring cycles and 54% seeing no change.
At the same time, the data points to a marked easing of the pay pressure that has characterised the market in recent years. Permanent salaries and rates of pay held steady for 72% of respondents in May, with 27% reporting an increase and only 1% a decrease.
The picture was even more stable in contract work, where 85% reported no change in rates, and in temporary work, where 76 % reported no change.
Supply of qualified talent to remain tight
Hiring demand remained resilient but uneven across categories. Just over a third of recruiters, 35%, reported an increase in permanent vacancies versus April, with 36% seeing no change. Temporary vacancies showed the strongest momentum, with 36% reporting an uplift, while contract demand was steadier, 46% reporting no month-on-month change.
Looking ahead, sentiment is cautiously positive but flattening. Some 35% of recruiters expect vacancy numbers to rise over the next three months, though the largest group, 45%, anticipate no change.
The supply of qualified candidates is expected to remain tight, with 55% predicting no change in availability over the same period and just 29% expecting an improvement. New business activity was modest but broadly based, with 45% of firms taking on one to two new clients in May and a further 29% taking on three or more.
“The standout signal in this month’s data is the lengthening time it is taking to fill permanent roles,” said Siobhán Kinsella, President of the Employment and Recruitment Federation.
“With almost two-thirds of recruiters reporting a longer hiring cycle, the constraint in the market is no longer simply the number of vacancies, it is the availability of the right candidates to fill them.
“Encouragingly, we are also seeing pay pressures stabilise, with salaries holding steady for the majority of permanent placements. After a sustained period of wage inflation, that is a meaningful shift and a sign of a market that is rebalancing rather than overheating.
“Demand remains healthy, particularly in temporary and contract work, where employers are clearly valuing flexibility, but with candidate supply expected to stay tight, the businesses that will win talent over the coming months are those that move decisively and invest in a strong, efficient hiring process,” Kinsella said.
-
Bank of Ireland is welcoming new customers every day – funding investments, working capital and expansions across multiple sectors. To learn more, click here
-
For support in challenging times, click here
-
Listen to the ThinkBusiness Podcast for business insights and inspiration. All episodes are here. You can also listen to the Podcast on:
-
Spotify
-
SoundCloud
-
Apple
