The most recent SOLAS Skills and Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU) survey of Recruitment Agencies reveals an increase in the number of difficult to fill jobs in Ireland. A significant majority of all difficult to fill mentions were  professional occupations (IT professionals, engineers, accountants, etc.), however, an increasing number of  non-professional roles were mentioned as difficult to fill.  The most difficult to fill include:

1. Managers: project managers; quality manager; HR managers; business development; hotel and restaurant managers.
2. Sales and marketing managers: product strategy, retail managers; sales managers with industry specific knowledge including procurement and supply chain management.
3. Business intelligence & data analytics: experienced statisticians; entry level and experienced revenue managers (specific sectors, e.g. hospitality); financial systems analysts; economists and data scientists (big data, data visualisations and quantitative modelling)
4. Project management and production planning.
5. Technical Managers in science, technology and engineering, and in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) environment.
6. IT Professionals, Senior ICT managers, including IT project/network managers; Oracle supply chain functional lead management roles.
7. Cloud computing: MS Azure; AWS (amazon web services); cloud architect. InfoSec (IT security): IoT (internet of things); BYOD (bring your own device); data/information security; IT internal audit. Web design: particularly web related applications focusing on enhancing users’ online experience (UX) and supporting user interaction (UI).
8. Senior HR managers with industry relevant expertise.
9. Financial managers.

The survey also calculated the number of workers from non-EEA countries who filled vacancies in Ireland, with approximately 180 new permits issued for managerial occupations accounting for 6% of all employment permits issued. “Almost half of permits issued to managers were for intra-company transfers (accounting for almost a fifth of all intra-company transfer permits issued in 2013) in sectors including manufacturing, financial services and IT; a further 41% of new permits issued were for green cards, primarily in services and IT.”