NIJobs Job Report with Ulster Bank has revealed that the construction industry has recorded its highest level of vacancies to date.

Despite recruitment levels across Northern Ireland remaining steady in the third quarter of 2023, many organisations are experiencing long-term skill shortages and difficulties.

Alongside the construction industry, Skilled Trades also recorded many available roles. Despite both sectors experiencing demand, the longstanding vacancies are more than double pre-pandemic levels.

The workers most in demand with construction employers were Graduate Civil Engineer, Plumbing and Heating Engineer followed by Conservation Officer.

In the Skilled Trade industry, the most in demand roles were Maintenance Operative, Maintenance Technicians and Mechanical Fitter.

Job listings have remained around the same level throughout 2023, whilst official Labour market statistics have slowed down in Q3. Just over half of the 39 employment categories posted a quarterly rise in job listings during the third quarter whilst 17 categories saw a fewer number of jobs in Q3 compared to the previous quarter.

Sam Dooley, Country Director of The Stepstone Group Ireland with responsibility for NIJobs, said: "Ongoing talent shortages remain a challenge for employers in Northern Ireland despite sectors actively recruiting. There are a number of contributing factors to this problem, including post pandemic recovery, demographic changes, and shifting ways of working.

"Our advice to employers is to focus on your key goals over a set period and identify business critical roles that you will need to reach these objectives. This will allow you to clearly identify where skills shortages exist within your organisation and will also give a clear path of what skillsets are required for future success.

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"It's never been more important to hire and retain talent in the current climate. Upskilling your existing workforce is a good starting point. It’s also worth remembering that employees will want to see more than monetary value placed on their role now. Offering flexibility in work models alongside other incentives such as extra annual leave or wellbeing support or initiatives can attract and retain staff long-term."

Ulster Bank's Chief Economist Richard Ramsey stated: "While there have been signs that the local labour market has been weakening in the third quarter this was less evident within recruitment activity.

"Logistics posted the largest quarterly rise in numerical terms of all the employment categories followed by Social Care, Cleaning, Management, Administration and Accountancy. But IT recorded the biggest fall in advertised vacancies in numerical terms with listings falling by 24% q/q in Q3 2023.

"Outside of the pandemic, the IT sector posted the fewest number of job listings since the series began in Q1 2019. IT was one of only four categories to have fewer vacancies than during the corresponding pre-pandemic quarter four years ago. Education, Security and Farming and Agriculture were the other three categories. Education has seen its number of vacancies fall in each of the last nine quarters.

"A variety of sectors have seen hiring activity come off the boil. Finance, Manufacturing and Legal vacancies all fell to nine-quarter lows in the three months to September. Meanwhile, Marketing and Banking vacancies eased to their lowest levels in 10 and 11 quarters respectively.

"Three employment categories recorded their highest number of vacancies to date. These were Construction, Arts and Entertainment, and Travel. Despite subdued demand, construction firms are still recruiting hard to fill longstanding vacancies. The number of construction vacancies in the third quarter of 2023 was more than double that of the corresponding period in 2019. Skilled Trades remain in short supply too with the level of vacancies more than double pre-pandemic levels. Skilled Trades remained the third largest category for job vacancies after Catering (ranked no. 2) and Management (ranked no.1).

"Northern Ireland, like economies elsewhere, faces a labour supply crunch. Demographic trends, such as an ageing population, point to an increasing shortfall of available workers. Meanwhile, the legacy of Covid and deteriorating health outcomes is shrinking the supply of workers further. Throw in the new ways of working / post-covid lifestyle choices and employers are experiencing severe shortages in labour.

"Solutions on attracting more migrants from abroad and/or replacing labour with machines (automation) are required sooner rather than later. Attracting migrants is increasingly being hindered by the lack of affordable rental properties. The stock of available rental properties has halved since the pandemic with rents soaring. Filling a job vacancy will increasingly be dependent on finding affordable accommodation. The housing and labour supply crunches are becoming more and more intertwined."