QS's Added to UK List of Professions Facing Skills Shortages

QS’s have been added to a British Home Office list of professions that are facing skills shortage. This move will allow firms to recruit skilled practitioners from abroad. Firms have been struggling to recruit experienced UK based and overseas QS's for some time. Recent research by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors revealed there were around 6,500 QS vacancies across the UK in January 2007. Forty-nine per cent of these were unfilled for more than six months and 35 per cent for more than 12 months.

Davy's Construction Jobs Warning -But Ireland still to be one of the Top EU Economies

In a report on the Irish economy, Davy Stockbrokers says that 35,000 jobs will be lost in the construction sector by the end of 2008. However, it also says the losses will be offset by 15,000 new jobs in building of infrastructure and commercial property developments and it predicts economic growth will remain strong.Davy Stockbrokers reiterated the belief that the housing sector is on the brink of an adjustment, with the number of housing completions likely to fall in the second half of the year. The report says that the number of completions will fall off by 17 per cent in the second half of 2007. But it stressed that a forecast of 80,000 house completions for this year and 65,000 next year is still a soft landing.

Although there will be some redeployment of labour to other parts of the construction industry, it is "inevitable" that there will be job losses, Davy economist Robbie Kelleher said.The numbers of workers employed in housing will fall from around 185,000 to 150,000 by the end of 2008, he said. However, this will be partially offset by increased activity in other sectors of the construction industry, where Davy estimates an additional 17,000 people will be employed over the same period.That would leave a net job loss of around 17,000, or six per cent, between now and the end of 2008.

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Davy's Construction Jobs Warning -But Ireland still to be one of the Top EU Economies

In a report on the Irish economy, Davy Stockbrokers says that 35,000 jobs will be lost in the construction sector by the end of 2008. However, it also says the losses will be offset by 15,000 new jobs in building of infrastructure and commercial property developments and it predicts economic growth will remain strong.Davy Stockbrokers reiterated the belief that the housing sector is on the brink of an adjustment, with the number of housing completions likely to fall in the second half of the year. The report says that the number of completions will fall off by 17 per cent in the second half of 2007. But it stressed that a forecast of 80,000 house completions for this year and 65,000 next year is still a soft landing.
Although there will be some redeployment of labour to other parts of the construction industry, it is "inevitable" that there will be job losses, Davy economist Robbie Kelleher said.The numbers of workers employed in housing will fall from around 185,000 to 150,000 by the end of 2008, he said. However, this will be partially offset by increased activity in other sectors of the construction industry, where Davy estimates an additional 17,000 people will be employed over the same period.That would leave a net job loss of around 17,000, or six per cent, between now and the end of 2008.
With around 13 per cent of the construction workforce made up of foreign nationals, who are considered more mobile than other construction workers, a portion of this group may relocate to Britain.Increased levels of public sector construction under the National Development Plan, a buoyant commercial sector and a surge in home improvement will help counterbalance the downturn in housing, they say. As liquidity and affordability in the second-hand house market deteriorate, there is likely to be increased spending on home improvement, particularly given the financial resources available from SSIA accounts.The commercial, infrastructure and home improvement sectors account for up to 40 per cent of construction investment. However, Davy expects that employment in the construction sector as a whole will be falling at a year-on-year rate of six per cent by the end of 2008.Overall job creation in the economy is likely to slow to one per cent by the end of 2008, which is the equivalent of 20,000 jobs. This is down from a figure of 80,000 in the 12-month period to the end of February 2007. The February figures from the CSO showed an increase of over 28,300 new employees joining the construction industry in the previous 12 months.
The stockbroker’s report concluded by saying there are increasing signs that export growth will be stronger in the future than it has been in recent years. Davy sees GNP growing by 4.5 per cent this year and three per cent next year. Employment growth is likely to slow to one per cent by the end of 2008.

Northern Ireland Business Outlook Positive But Skills Shortages Need Addressing

The majority of businesses in Northern Ireland are optimistic about the future of the economy, according to an Ulster Bank survey.In its first all-island survey the bank finds that, in the north, 63 per cent of companies say their business prospects will improve.Half of companies in the Republic of Ireland say their business prospects will improve, while just under a third believe they will stand still.However in a report to the Northern Ireland Assembly business leaders said shortages of skilled workers in key areas will be a major factor holding back growth in the North's economy.The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) went before the North’s Employment and Learning Committee to stress the need for swift action rather than more consultations or strategies.They warned that training the right number of people in the right skills was needed if the North was to achieve the economic advance that the restoration of devolution provided it with.CBI projects there will be a need for 140,000 people to fill jobs during the next 10 years.

10 per cent of Irish Business Start Ups by Migrants

Ten per cent of new businesses in Ireland are begun by new arrivals to the country, according to the Bank of Ireland.In a new report the bank says that the most popular sectors for such start-ups are restaurants and food-related businesses, construction, consultancy and retail enterprises.They also said that 17 per cent of foreign nationals surveyed planned to start their own business in Ireland over the next five years.In response to this, BoI has launched a new business-banking proposition for Polish customers, which they say is the first initiative of its kind in Ireland.Damian Young, the banks head of small business says: “Latest projections show that the foreign national population could grow to 19 per cent by 2020. We have recognised the changing needs of our customer base and this is the first in a range of SME initiatives due to be launched to foreign nationals by Bank of Ireland.”Over the last six months, the bank has carried out research on foreign national customer needs and found that access to translated information and a lack of understanding of Irish banking terminology were the main concerns articulated.

Annual Irish Employment Growth Moderates in Q1 2007

The Irish Central Statistic Office (CSO) has reported in its Quarterly National Household Survey Quarter 1 2007 that the number of persons in employment in Ireland grew by 76,800 or 3.8 per cent in the year to 2,074,900 in the first quarter of 2007. This compares to an annual growth rate of 4.3 per cent in the previous quarter and to a rate of 4.7 per cent in the same quarter last year.The number of men in employment in Ireland increased over the year by 38,100 (up 3.3 per cent) while the number of females increased by 38,700 (up 4.6 per cent).When seasonal factors are taken into account the number of persons in employment increased by 16,400 in the quarter compared with an average quarterly adjusted increase of 21,400 in 2006.There were 91,800 persons unemployed in Ireland in the first quarter of 2007, representing an increase of 3,600 over the year. The increase of 3,300 in the numbers of unemployed males accounted for over 90 per cent of the overall annual increase. The number of persons in short-term unemployment increased by 3,800, which was partially offset by a small decrease of 200 in the number of persons in long-term unemployment. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 4.1 per cent to 4.4 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007.The total number of persons in the Irish labour force now stands at 2,166,700, an increase of 80,400 or 3.9 per cent over the year. This accounts for 62.9 per cent of all persons aged 15 and over compared with 62.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2006. Female participation rose from 52.2 per cent to 53.2 per cent while that for males increased from 72.5 per cent to 72.8 per cent.Non-Irish national workers are tentatively estimated to have accounted for around 45,000 or almost 60 per cent of the annual increase in the numbers in employment. The number of unemployed foreign nationals increased by 1,200 over the year to 14,900 representing just under one sixth of the total number of unemployed persons in the first quarter.The latest available figures for all EU 25 member states, which are for the fourth quarter of 2006, show that between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2006 Ireland’s employment level grew by 4.3 per cent and its labour force by 4.0 per cent. The comparable figures for the EU-25 countries were 2.1 per cent and one per cent respectively.

UK Earnings Growth Slowed in April

According to the UK national Statistics office employee earnings growth in the UK slowed quite dramatically in the three months to April. But unemployment continued to decline.
The office for National Statistics said average earnings growth, including bonuses, slowed to four per cent in the three months to April from the year earlier, after March's downwardly revised 4.4 per cent rise.
The April rate is well below analysts’ expectations for the reading to remain unchanged from the initial estimate for March of 4.5 per cent.
The rate was unchanged from March, which was revised down from 3.7 to 3.6 per cent. Elsewhere, the figures showed falls in the two main measures of unemployment. The number of Britons claiming the jobseeker's allowance, in May dropped by 9,300, after falling by an upwardly revised 16,000 in April.