Education

Graduate outlook remains strong despite tech industry lay-offs

Opportunities for graduates cited in life sciences, finance, construction, pharmaceutical, engineering and technology

Graduate employers report that graduate recruitment is 'strong overall'. Photograph: iStockphoto

Peter McGuire
Tue Jun 20 2023 - 01:00

One of the big domestic news stories of the year so far: job lay-offs in the tech industry. It’s grim for those workers – but should we all be worried about the jobs outlook, and what does this mean for graduates?

Luckily, those at the forefront of graduate recruitment say graduates still have plenty of opportunities.

“The graduate recruitment landscape remains broadly very robust, with employers seeing graduates as vital for maintaining their future talent pipeline,” says Ruairí Kavanagh, editor of gradireland.com.

“Areas of particular opportunity remain life sciences, finance, construction, pharmaceutical, engineering and technology.

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“Sustainability and the sustainable economy is another area with massive scope for roles. Enterprise Ireland recently said that climate- and agritech-focused roles would be in significant demand.”

Edel Kearney and Helen Vahey, career coaches at TU Dublin, say graduate employers report that graduate recruitment is “strong overall’, “buoyant” and “booming.”

Sam McIlveen, managing director of StepStone Ireland, parent company of IrishJobs.ie, says that amid a period of near full employment, it is an extremely competitive talent market for employers, with plenty of job opportunities for today’s graduates.

“At IrishJobs we have recorded a 67 per cent growth in graduate jobs over the past year (April 2022 to April 2023), with the fastest-growing sectors for grads including construction (+257 per cent), engineering (+240 per cent) and management (+183 per cent),” McIlveen says.

“Our data also shows that the highest number of jobs available for grads at the moment are within similar sectors, with graduate engineers, graduate management trainees, finance graduates and graduate electrical engineers most in demand. In addition, the fastest-growing jobs year on year include graduate civil engineers, graduate project engineers and graduate quantity surveyors.”

Kearney says that the life sciences sector is booming, with investments announced every day.

“Speaking to colleagues in the food and hospitality sectors, it is booming. People who left the sector or were laid off during Covid-19 did not return, so there are now lots of roles to be filled.”

Vahey, meanwhile, says that engineering firms, whether in construction, electric, electronic, mechanical or manufacturing, or indeed any other area of the discipline, are keen to meet students.

Law is also strong, with lots of opportunities for graduates, while graduates with web design and UX (user experience) skills are in high demand.

As for the technology sector, Kearney and Vahey say the number of lay-offs in the technology sector is relatively small, and technology skills remain useful and valid in areas such as supply chain, logistics, manufacturing, fintech, pharma and more.

They say that, while the multinational technology sector is laying off some staff, domestic firms are still recruiting.

Kavanagh warns that more lay-offs are in the offing, however.

“The technology sector has had a very tough past 12 months, and while the number of lay-offs, which only affected Ireland moderately, have slowed, it is clear that this phase is not yet over, as recent announcements from Meta demonstrate.

“The AI revolution is here, however, and while much of the discussion has been around what jobs AI will replace, there are many more it will also create. These highly skilled roles include AI programming itself, robotic engineering and a host of data science and data analytics roles. ”

Challenges

And there are other challenges – although some of them may present opportunities, too.

“It has been a very challenging time for graduates, with the pandemic leading to a paradigm shift in many working models,” says Kavanagh.

“There is definitely a sizeable decrease in remote roles, with most organisations expecting either on-site or hybrid working models to be followed. Coupled with the cost-of-living crisis and housing crisis, this can limit the choices facing graduates or impact what roles they can realistically take.

“These challenges are not new, they existed pre-pandemic, but have been exacerbated by the changes of the past few years. Graduate jobs are always likely to lead to some amount of financial challenge, particularly in Dublin or other cities, but the opportunities remain considerable. Gradireland research from 2022 points to 73 per cent of employers increasing their graduate recruitment levels because of an actual increase in business.

For all the jobs that are available, housing policies that have led to rental shortages are taking their toll, and may limit the take-up of jobs.

“Graduates and students are talking of the housing crisis, and how it impacts their studies,” says Vahey. “These are not conversations about buying a house, but about finding somewhere to live.”

Kearney says students are more willing to move out of Dublin because of the cost of living and, with companies in, for instance, the pharma sector, located throughout Ireland, there are more options.

Students may also choose to work abroad for a number of years, driven by the desire for a different experience, Kearney and Vahey say.

Ultimately, Kavanagh advises that graduates should view their skills in the broadest possible way.

“So many of them are transferable: marketers can work in finance, finance graduates can work in technology, technology graduates can work in construction, engineering or sustainability.

“As always, flexibility, a willingness to learn and the ability to take direction are key at the early stages of a graduate career. My advice would be for graduates to be someone that people want to work with, rather than someone who can just fulfil a role.”

What employers can’t afford to ignore

“Next month, employer branding specialists Universum, who are part of IrishJobs, will release its Most Attractive Employers Index, which reveals the most desired employers among third-level students and offers data led insights into how they can best develop their employer brand to attract graduate talent,” says Sam McIlveen, managing director of StepStone Ireland, the parent company of IrishJobs.ie.

“According to a recent survey from Universum on the World’s Most Attractive Employers, 78% of the most attractive companies see employer branding as one of the top priorities among their organisation’s HR/talent management priorities.

“Employers in Ireland, therefore, cannot afford to ignore this aspect of their organisation if they are to stand out in a more competitive hiring landscape and continue to attract and retain the best graduate talent.”

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