Ireland


Introduction and Overview

  • An island situated in the Atlantic Ocean and separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea, Ireland is home to 6.4 million people, and the capital city of Dublin has a population of 1.273 million people (Nation Facts, 2020). 
  • Since the 1960s, increased industrialization, foreign direct investment and general economic activity have contributed to the establishment of HR as a discrete management function in Ireland (Gunnigle, Heraty and McDonnell, 2011).
  • By the late 1970s the HRM role was firmly established in most of the larger Irish organizations however, the 1980s heralded a period of major change for HRM since the depressed economic climate, together with increased competitive pressures, helped to change both the focus of HRM and the nature of HR activities (Gunnigle, Heraty and McDonnell, 2011).
  • Increased market competition in the future forced many organizations to seek new means of establishing competitive advantage. One apparent source of such improvements laid in the better utilization of human resources (Gunnigle, Heraty and McDonnell, 2011).
  • Impact of the economic crisis in 2008 made way to employers turning into agency in order to recruit the suitable candidates and for engineers and IT specialist’s its seemed that they were not affected as much as construction and manufacturing (Aslos, 2013).
  • As part of the recovery from the crisis temporary staffing became common among the employers in the UK, Ireland, Germany, and Austria compared to other countries in European Union. (Aslos, 2013).
  • As per the statistics employment in Ireland in 2018 was around 2.26 million (IMF, 2019) and in 2012, there were about 78 women in the Ireland labor force for every hundred men (Goldman Sachs, 2013).
  • According to the latest statistics of 2020, the labor participation rate among the total population aged between 15 and 65 in Ireland amounted to around 73.04 percent (World Bank, 2020).
  • The unemployment rate in Ireland as of 2020 is 12.1% and is forecasted to be 5.0% in 2024 and the monthly minimum wage in 2018 was USD 1,905 (Labour force, 2020).

Recruitment practices

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Ireland is famous for its hospitality and the warmest welcomes has been extended to embrace foreign corporations, too (Beard, 2018). The corporations get to pay only 12.5% which was the lowest rates in the European Union (Beard, 2018). Almost a quarter of a million people are directly employed in the multinational sector in Ireland and in 2019 it created 21,844 new jobs (Burke,2020) .The recruitment mediums which are widely used in Ireland are: Newspapers, E-recruiting (online corporate websites), internal recruitment, third party job websites, recruitment agencies, employee referrals (Andrews, 2016).

  • Vacancy Notice with job description advertised for a minimum of 3 weeks.
  • Preliminary Selection
  • Assessment depending on the role
  • Interviews
  • Appointment

Selection Practices

There are a number of different methods used to make sure the process is fair and thorough in most of the Irish organizations including (Andrews, 2016).

  1. Initial screening- where the CV submitted is directed to the recruitment team, where they will assess your experience against the job description.
  2. Online Job preview plus short online verbal and numerical test. 
  3. Online reasoning Tests- This can be a psychometric assessment, a skills based test, or a case study according to the job you are applying for.
  4. Online or Offline personality questionnaire
  5. Work sample assessment exercise
  6. Interview- These are competency based and the applicant will meet one or more interviewers during the interview
  7. Final Interview- Typically it would be a meeting with a higher level employee for the final assessment.

In the public sector, the recruitment is through a centrally administered competitive examination at a relatively low grade level. The Commission for Public Service Appointments regulates public service recruitment and appointment (OECD, 2012). Some posts are open to internal and external recruitment with direct application to the post (OECD, 2012). 

Miscellaneous Information

  • Pay setting-Base salary is set in a single, comprehensive agreement for the whole of central government through a collective bargaining framework. Bonuses are based on the recommendations of an independent committee. Relevant experience and job content are the most important determinants of base salary for all grades, with qualifications, performance and seniority also factoring in. Seniority based pay is in use; and the number of years in similar positions is considered when setting a new recruit’s salary (OECD, 2012).
  • Work conditions: The average yearly working hours in Ireland, 1,565 hours in 2010, is one of the lowest rates of all EU countries. Annual paid sick days with a medical certificate are limited (OECD, 2012).

Bibliography

  • Gunnigle, P., Heraty, N. and McDonnell, M., 2011. Human Resource Management In Ireland. 4th ed. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, p.25.
  • Alsos, K. (2013). Labour migrants from Central and Eastern Europe in the Nordic countries: Patterns of migration, working conditions and recruitment practices. Nordic Council of Ministers.
  • Beard, S., 2019. For Ireland, multinational companies are a blessing and a curse. Marketplace. Available at: https://www.marketplace.org/2018/06/20/ireland-multinational-companies-blessing-and-curse/ [Accessed November 18, 2020].
  • Burke, E., 2020. Employment in multinationals in Ireland hits a record high – IDA. Silicon Republic. Available at: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/jobs/employment-fdi-multinationals-ireland-ida [Accessed November 18, 2020].