In Focus: Technology Talent Strategies & Insights (Ireland) – Q2 2026

In Focus: Technology Talent Strategies & Insights is a quarterly deep dive into Ireland’s private sector technology talent landscape. Drawing on LinkedIn data, proprietary Barden insights, and leading industry sources, this report is designed to equip technology leaders with the clarity and strategies needed to compete in an evolving and increasingly complex hiring market.

#1 Hiring Market: Confident but More Targeted

After a period of volatility throughout 2025, Ireland’s technology hiring market has entered 2026 in a more stable but more selective position.

ManpowerGroup Ireland’s Net Employment Outlook (NEO) shows confidence in the IT sector rebounding strongly from +28% in Q2 and +29% in Q3 2025 to +43% in Q4 and now reaching +44% in Q2 2026.

Employer sentiment has strengthened, supported by continued multinational investment and sustained demand for digital transformation. However, hiring behaviour has shifted. Organisations are no longer rapidly scaling teams; instead, they are prioritising targeted, high-impact hires aligned with strategic business needs. There is a growing emphasis on demonstrated technical capability, commercial impact, and adaptability.

As a result, the market has become more balanced than in previous years; however, critical skill shortages persist, particularly in specialised and emerging areas of technology.

#2 Tech Job Postings

Job postings data reinforces this shift, pointing to a market that is stable in volume but changing in composition.

According to Indeed Hiring Lab, overall job postings in Ireland remain around 7% above pre-pandemic levels in early 2026, with volumes broadly stable since mid-2025.

However, not all roles are recovering evenly. Some technology functions (particularly IT infrastructure, operations, and support) continue to track below pre-pandemic levels, reflecting a more selective and efficiency-driven hiring approach.

Geographically, Dublin remains slightly behind the national trend, with job postings still approximately 12% below baseline, but levels have stabilised over the past 12-18 months.

At the same time, the structure of demand is evolving. A growing number of roles now require advanced or emerging capabilities, with AI, data, cybersecurity, and cloud skills increasingly embedded across job descriptions. Around 11% of job postings in Ireland now reference AI, highlighting how rapidly these capabilities are becoming mainstream.

Flexible working also remains a defining feature. Mentions of remote and hybrid work have risen to around 19-20% of all postings, more than four times pre-pandemic levels, with tech roles continuing to lead in offering location flexibility.

Overall, job postings in Q2 2026 reflect a market that is no longer driven by volume hiring, but by precision – where demand is concentrated in niche skills, specific roles, and increasingly distributed locations.

#3 Gender Representation

Gender participation in the Irish technology sector remains male-dominated, with 73% of workers being male and 27% female.

If your organisation has 27% or more female participation – whether in leadership roles or IT functions – you’re doing well. If the percentage is lower, you may be missing an opportunity.

Striving for a 50/50 gender split is ambitious given the current demographics, but improving diversity is still valuable. Organisations looking to enhance gender balance might benefit from addressing the issue earlier in the supply chain by encouraging initiatives that allow for higher participation, which will overtime address this imbalance.

#4 How Tech Talent Moves: Job-Seeking & Tenure Trends

Around 28.6% of tech professionals are actively seeking new roles, while 12.9% have changed jobs within the past year. The median tenure in technology is now just two years, reflecting the sector’s fast pace and high mobility. Frequent movement is driven by skill development, career growth, better compensation, and the prevalence of contract work, which naturally shortens tenure.

Key Observations:

#5 Hiring Trends by Discipline: A Market Diverging

Software Engineering

Demand remains strong, but hiring has become more selective:

AI is reshaping the job market, particularly for junior roles. A recent Irish Times report found that Ireland’s Department of Finance recorded an approximate 20% drop in entry-level technology jobs between 2023 and 2025, while demand for more experienced professionals continued to grow. As a result, companies are increasingly prioritising senior engineers and talent with AI expertise, leading to a slowdown in entry-level hiring. The longer-term pipeline risk associated with this trend is discussed in Section 7.

Data & AI

This is the fastest-evolving area:

Data from Indeed reinforces this trend: 11% of job postings now mention AI, up from just 4% in November 2023.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has become a board-level priority:

Infrastructure & Cloud

Projects, Change & Transformation

We are seeing a sustained increase in demand for contract professionals across transformation and data programmes, as organisations prioritise flexibility over permanent headcount growth.

#6 Retention & Employer Strategy: What Actually Works

In a market where the right talent remains scarce, retention continues to be a critical priority.

Flexible & Hybrid Work

According to the Barden National Talent Monitor, 78% of professional roles in Ireland operate on a 2-3 day hybrid model. Fully remote roles are declining, while full-time office roles have increased to 15%

Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Employee Wellbeing

Internal Skill Development and Career Growth

#7 The Skills Gap and Future Talent Pipelines

Ireland continues to face a significant technology skills gap. The challenge lies less in a lack of talent and more in a mismatch between available skills and evolving business needs. Recent reports from Ibec (2025) and Generation Ireland/McKinsey highlight this – over 80% of firms report difficulty aligning talent with their requirements.

Employers particularly struggle to find people who combine:

Implications for Employers:
To remain competitive, organisations must shift from traditional hiring and training models toward a more dynamic, skills-based approach. This includes:

The most valuable talent is no longer defined by what they know but by how quickly they can adapt.

AI and Junior Talent:

As you can see, advances in AI and automation are accelerating the obsolescence of certain skills. Upskilling is no longer a one-off initiative but a continuous necessity. Companies are prioritising senior engineers and AI specialists, leaving entry-level talent behind. This reduction in junior hiring presents a long-term pipeline risk: if organisations stop investing in early-career talent today, the mid-to-senior talent of tomorrow will be in even shorter supply.

Junior employees bring fresh perspectives, adaptability, and a capacity to learn quickly – qualities essential in a fast-changing tech landscape. Neglecting this talent now risks losing the next generation of tech leaders, including future CTOs.

Many global firms locate in Ireland not just for tax benefits or strategic location, but for the strong university-to-industry pipeline. The steady flow of graduates and the connection between research and industry is a key part of Ireland’s appeal as a tech hub. Scaling back investment in early-career talent risks weakening the very ecosystem that attracted these companies in the first place. Hiring leaders must keep the focus on junior talent – it’s an investment in the future of innovation.

This is where Barden can help you. At Barden, we work closely with organisations across Ireland to navigate this evolving technology talent landscape. Our quarterly talent monitors combine real-time market data with on-the-ground insight to support more informed hiring decisions.

If you are shaping your technology strategy for 2026, we would be delighted to support you.

References

Over 1,000 accountants who finished their training contracts in 2025 attended our CASSI & Barden webinar and live events over the last year. Those who attended had lots of questions, many of which we got to answer on the day. However, time didn’t allow for us to get through them all. We also thought those who couldn’t attend might be interested in hearing the answers too!

We put the questions to our resident ACA Talent Advisors and here’s what they said:

QUESTIONS ON MOVING FROM PRACTICE TO INDUSTRY (AND VISA VERSA)

Q: Is it better to stay in a Big 4 firm after qualification or move to industry? Is it better to get your Post Qualification Experience (PQE) within a training firm or in industry?

A: It’s hard to get objective advice on this one. A partner will always want you to stay on. A recruiter will more than likely advise you to move. Let’s try to get an objective opinion by looking at the question through different lenses. There is no one right answer and this will very much depend on you, your interests and long-term career objectives.

You should seriously consider staying on to become a manager post-contract if:

You should not consider staying on to become a manager post-contract if:

We hear advice on a regular basis that goes along the lines of: “You should stay on to become an audit manager and then you’ll be able to move to the client-side or industry at a higher level when you do make the move.”

This statement is fundamentally incorrect.

Here’s why: if a company is looking for a financial controller or finance manager, for example, they will (99 times out of 100) look for a qualified accountant with ‘x’ years of post-qualified experience outside practice because their first choice will always be someone with practical experience as a financial controller.

For the vast majority of hiring managers, there’s no contest. Practical industry or financial services experience post-contract wins. You’ll move up in salary and benefits as time goes by in practice. You’ll become increasingly valuable in practice but you won’t be appreciating the same value for client-side roles – your peers who moved straight out of training contact will. As a first or second-year manager in external audit, you’ll still be well-able to compete for internal audit, technical external reporting, and project-based transformation positions. Broader financial accounting or analysis will likely become increasingly difficult to access.

For more considerations, check out this blog piece we wrote on this exact topic>>>

Q: What experience do hiring managers look for in a recently qualified accountant? (i.e. leading projects, if they were asked to stay on in practice, etc.)?

A:  The answer depends on who’s looking.

Relevant exposure to similar companies and organisational structures is typically #1 on the list. Hiring managers might also look to see if you got a chance to work with the firm’s more high-profile clients… if you have, don’t be shy about putting that on your CV and discussing it in an interview.

Hiring managers review performance rating, FAE results, and general academic background.  Additionally, they typically look to see if you took on any special projects or secondments or if you were involved in any extracurricular activity for your firm (grad training etc..).

For niche roles, they will, of course, seek niche experience (technical exposure to a particular IFRS for example).

Any/all of the above should be clearly stated on your CV.

Q:  I work in industry and don’t have practice experience. I think this may undermine my career potential. Should I get practice experience?

A:  Ultimately it should not matter if you trained in practice or in industry.  What matters is the calibre of the people you trained with and the calibre of the training you received.

A KPMG-trained accountant and a Kerry Group-trained accountant will have an equal shot at a mutually relevant role.  Some job specs will say “Big 4 trained” on them – what it really means is “big company trained”.

If, however, you have trained in a small company and want to work in a larger corporate, a stint in a big practice will stand you in good stead. The exposure you get from interacting with larger clients will stand to you when applying for roles with larger companies in industry.

Q: Do you have any tips on moving into corporate finance after qualifying? (is a diploma in corporate finance a prerequisite?)

A:  To be honest, transitioning into corporate finance (CF) straight after qualifying or from another department (like tax) is not something that typically happens in a single step. The ‘like with like’ principle applies here – you’re more likely to access a CF role if there’s some overlap with your current or most recent experience.

If you’ve trained in a small practice, you’ve likely had small company exposure, while most CF activity happens in larger organisations. Gaining experience with larger companies (through audit, restructuring, or similar) is a good first step. You can then revisit the CF route internally after 12–18 months.

If you’re in tax, the approach is similar. Aim to be the best in your intake at Excel and financial modelling. Be open to short-term or contract work to gain relevant experience, and consider transitioning into a related team (like transaction services, valuations, or due diligence) as a stepping stone.

A diploma in CF isn’t a prerequisite – it can help, but it won’t guarantee anything. What will help is being numerate, articulate, and deeply committed to the move. Internal transitions tend to be easier than external ones, but be prepared to take a potential pay cut initially.

The reality is that many people want to move into CF, but only a few make it straight away. It’s not impossible, just less likely. Those who succeed are typically the sharpest, most diligent, and proactive in positioning themselves for the opportunity.

QUESTIONS ON WORKING ABROAD

Firstly, read our updates on the market abroad here>>>>

Q: What is your view on working abroad after your training contract and what would be the best way to get work abroad? 

A:  Big fan of working abroad – world/life experience is hugely valuable (and the earlier you do it the better for lots of reasons).  Maybe take a contract in industry locally for 12 months before you go (just to give you a shot at the better jobs when you move), but working abroad in your first couple of years PQE (assuming it’s with a good company/role) is never a bad thing.

Connect with a local recruiter in your target country to get a feel for the situation on the ground before you go (Barden can get you some names and emails of people pretty much anywhere in the world).  Send them a soft message saying you will be moving to London/Canada/ Australia, etc. and say something along the lines of you would be delighted to get in touch more formally closer to the time.

Another very good piece of advice to consider before moving abroad is to use your network, people you may have trained with in your trainee contract, been in college with, or played sport with, who may have already moved to the place you are looking to move. It is 100% worth doing: reach out, let people know your intention to move, as they may be able to help you with roles before they ever go on the market. Considering your contact may be getting on very well there, the employer will see their reference carry a lot more weight than even the finest-looking CV, so be sure to use your network.

It is worth bearing in mind in particular if you are moving to Australia where you will most likely be operating in the contract market, contract roles tend to be needed at short notice and the processes can be fast moving, if you reach out a few months in advance the recruiter most likely wont be able to do much for you, but a friendly message expressing your intentions for further down the line may leave a good impression on them.

Other alternatives might be to work with an Irish company and move internationally with them in time or work in Internal Audit (IA) and travel the world while still remaining anchored in Ireland.

Q: In relation to tax exams, I’d be very interested in how useful they are as you move abroad. I understood the exams to be very ROI specific and that they don’t translate abroad i.e. you need to do additional exams – what’s your advice on this matter? 

A: Yes, the tax exams are specific to Irish Tax legislation, but many tax professionals secure roles abroad in jurisdictions with similar rules (e.g. UK and Australia), and some tax qualifications in Ireland have international recognition through affiliate networks.

Of course, some Tax Consultants who move abroad choose to also complete the relevant tax qualification in the country where they are working, but it’s not always a requirement. Many of the tax professionals who move abroad tend to secure roles as financial accountants, which allows them to further broaden their experience and skillset, so this is also an option.

QUESTIONS OF CVS AND TRYING TO STAND OUT

Q: How could recently qualified accountants stand out when applying for jobs? Especially given that there are so many “Big 4” qualified accountants coming out of contract in April?

A:  It’s hard to stand out in a great crowd.  Check out our CV advice section here >>> for some details on how to do your best to get noticed. We also provide a personalised CV advisory sessions, feel free to reach out to any of our Barden consultants to register.

Q: What are the most standout characteristics/skills/interests sought after in industry? Please let me know if there are things I can do now that would help my CV.

A: Ultimately, it’s about exposure to relevant organisational structures (for example, group functions), relevant activity on the supply chain (for example, manufacturing vs retail), and relevant industry exposure (FMCG vs pharma).  If you know you want to work in a particular company/industry then you should do your very best to get exposure to similar clients and when applying or interviewing for jobs, focus the conversation on your most similar clients and experience.

Q: Do you have a CA-qualified CV template?

A:  Why of course – drop an email to cassi@barden.ie OR check out our guide here >>>.

We’ll even do one better for you… If you want one of our recently qualified accountant recruitment team (all of whom are Big 4 trained Chartered Accountants themselves) to cast an eye over your CV, just let us know at cassi@barden.ie.  We’d be happy to help.

QUESTIONS ON FINDING JOBS AND RECRUITERS

Q: Where is the best place to find job opportunities?

A:  A good talent advisor/recruiter in a reputable firm should always be your first port of call (of course we’d say that!!).  Drop us a line at cassi@barden.ie, or ask around to get referrals; a good recruiter, who specialises in accounting, who is an accountant themselves, and who is interested in giving advice is WAY better than any Big 4 Partner, auntie in HR, or friend that moved jobs recently, for advice on getting the right job and access to the right job.

LinkedIn, Irish Jobs, Indeed (and similar) and your own network (your manager from 2 years ago that has left etc.) are all other very credible sources.

Q: If possible, can you provide a bit of an assessment on recruiters? Could you potentially explain whether recruiters are the best way of finding a job in the industry?

A:  Just so happens that we wrote an article on just this topic. Check it out here>>>> or just drop us a line (to cassi@barden.ie) and one of the Barden team can give you a steer.

QUESTIONS ON SETBACKS 

Q: What is the best way to present setbacks in your career thus far, like exam repeats, training contract terminations, etc.? Do you try to gloss over them or try to dissect the situation?

A: For newly qualified accountants who struggled to pass their exams or faced setbacks like training contract terminations, these challenges can make it harder to access larger, corporate teams. However, setbacks are an opportunity to show how you’ve overcome adversity, learned from it, and grown stronger as a result.

If there were mitigating personal circumstances, be honest about them – transparency can help contextualise the situation. But more importantly, demonstrate your resilience and what you’ve gained from the experience. Flexibility regarding the role or company can also make a big difference in making a fresh start.

The further you progress post-qualification (PQE), the less relevant earlier setbacks become. Experience you have from dealing with a setback/ overcoming a problem in your trainee contract will carry more weight than it would from your college projects/ or part-time jobs. And remember, some hiring managers actively ask for examples of setbacks to understand how you handle challenges and whether you bring the grit and self-awareness that can be invaluable in a corporate environment.

OTHER QUESTIONS

Q: What’s the best way to find out if a company culture is a good fit for you?

A:   The simple answer is to meet the people there.  You should get a very good insight into the company culture from a two-stage interview process with the hiring manager. Use interviews as an opportunity to find out as much as you can about the people you will be working with. Company culture is defined by the people who work in the company, not by some set of values on a website.  Find people you like, admire, and respect, and you’ll be on the right track.

Q:  What advice would you give someone on the flexible route who is not in a practice/training contract?

A:  To be honest I’d give the very same advice as I would to people in practice.   Our Newly Qualified Career Guide here >>> covers lots of those basics and the advice/tools apply regardless of where you worked when you completed your exams.

However, the like-with-like concept means that you will have only gained exposure to one (or two) types of companies/structures rather than to many types as you would in practice.  That said, your practical accounts prep experience could well give you an edge; a lot of people who trained in larger practices don’t have this experience. Make sure to highlight this on your CV! If you want specific, granular advice on this relevant to your experience/circumstances, drop us a line at cassi@barden.ie, and one of the team can give you a call to discuss.

And that’s a wrap!  For more details on any of these questions and for expert advice, bespoke to you and your future, just drop an email to any of the Barden team or to cassi@barden.ie, and Barden will look after you from there.  Easy.

Finishing your training contract in 2026? Do you want to make sure you make the very best first step after qualifying? Do you want a coffee meeting with an experienced talent advisor; someone who is a qualified accountant, just like you (meet our Leinster team here>>> and our  Munster team here>>>)?

Do you want a little help to create your very own best professional future? No problem. Just drop us a line today on hello@barden.ie and we will take it from there. Simple.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re just starting your career in finance or are already a CFO; we all dread any conversation even touching on the subject of salary.

Why? Because it’s not like any other deal you make in your life – it’s intrinsically related to your self-worth. In short, you’re not just negotiating a pay rate, you’re negotiating how much you, as a person and a professional, are ‘valued’.

Here are some top tips for negotiating your salary:

Try, as much as possible to remove emotion from your pitch: Acknowledging the above statement highlights why so many of these conversations can become emotional, or even be avoided altogether. The reality is that we don’t want to have these conversations because they can be deeply uncomfortable, and, let’s face it, we all fear rejection. Recognising this and trying to look at the situation objectively, in terms of rational measures is imperative to securing a good outcome. Make sure you reflect on the situation from multiple perspectives before honing your business case.

Speak in facts and quantify where possible: There is only one way to succeed, and this is through preparation – and lots of it. Prepare and construct your case based on facts and figures that support your claims. Ground your argument in quantifiable data and/or testimonials to clearly demonstrate what you have achieved, rather than what you ‘feel’. Just like you wouldn’t go into a supplier negotiation with an argument to reduce prices because you ‘feel’ you deserve it – don’t do it with your salary negotiations.

Consider your tone and demeanour: One of the most important steps to a successful salary conversation is to resist becoming defensive (or even teary!), by maintaining a cool head. Don’t rush to fill pauses in the discussion, let your manager speak, listen, and consider their point of view. If you feel that rush of emotion that comes with an answer you don’t like, pause and consider your response. Above all, be open and honest – show humility. Self-entitlement in salary negotiations is not a good look!

Root your case in your company’s process: It helps if your salary review and appraisal processes are linked, but they aren’t always. If you are negotiating a salary increase without an appraisal structure, you need to present your case by measuring and assessing your performance in a similar way. What objectives have you exceeded? How can you demonstrate a proven track record of high performance? Put yourself in your manager’s shoes, what would make him or her give you a salary rise?

Strive for a win-win solution: You can’t negotiate for something that isn’t possible. Critically, before presenting your case, you must have done your research into what your employer can afford to pay. An employer is not going to give you an increase that pushes you beyond the limits of your level of employment in the interests of fairness and equality, so you will hit a brick wall in any conversation if what you want is not feasible, or reasonable. Consider variables, such as additional holidays or an increase in pension, or think about what else you could take on in return for a raise.

Above all, you must maintain a collaborative approach at every stage of the negotiation process. Negotiating salary increases in employment, as opposed to when job seeking, differ in the fact that you can’t just define a walk away point and compete to get it. Think about presenting a case to your employer that shows them what’s in it for them too – how you plan to keep improving and how dedicated you are to maximising return on their investment in you.

In Barden, we understand that each team, role, and requirement is unique.

We’re where leaders go before they start hiring talent.

If you would like to discuss any of the above in more detail or you would more tailored advice and insights, connect with Tony on LinkedIn or at tony.kerslake@barden.ie

Ask a tax partner, and they’ll likely say practice. Ask a Head of Tax, and they’ll probably say industry. Ask a tax recruiter and talent advisor?

My answer is: it depends!

The right choice comes down to you, your personality, your interests and what matters most to you in your career.

While it is ultimately a very personal decision, there are a number of objective factors worth considering that can help you decide whether practice or industry is likely to be the better fit.

Business environment – Key business service Vs support service

In professional practice, tax is viewed as a core business service because your work directly contributes to the firm’s revenue. By contrast, within industry, tax is generally considered a support function. While the work of the tax team can significantly impact profitability, it does not directly generate income for the business.

This creates a fundamental change in environment. In practice, you may be part of a 200-person tax department responsible for generating half of the firm’s revenue. In industry, however, you might join a four-person tax team whose primary role is to manage tax risk while enabling the wider business to grow and remain profitable.

That said, finance and tax functions in industry are increasingly evolving from traditional support roles into business-partnering functions. As a result, tax teams have become more integrated into decision-making and more influential across the business.

There is also a cultural shift. Coming from practice, you are likely used to working alongside similar professionals in a collegiate, professional-services environment. In industry, you become part of a broader commercial organisation, where tax is viewed through a different lens. Moving from professional services into the corporate sector, therefore, brings a noticeably different culture and way of working.

Type of work – Client-facing Vs non-client-facing

Both practice and industry can offer a wide variety of work, but the nature of that work differs, primarily because practice is client-facing, while industry is not.

As a tax advisor in practice, your daily tasks are largely driven by client needs. Your focus is on delivering technically accurate and robust solutions, advising clients on complex tax matters, and helping manage and develop client relationships. In larger firms, you are likely to become more specialised, focusing on a particular area of tax or an industry sector. As your career progresses, you may move towards tax planning and consultancy work, gradually stepping away from compliance tasks, although this varies depending on the team and firm.

In contrast, as an in-house tax advisor, your role centres on identifying and managing tax risks for the business and coordinating with external advisors on technical issues. This work can span multiple taxes and jurisdictions, giving your role a broader scope. Depending on the company’s compliance model, your responsibilities may lean more heavily toward tax reporting, compliance, and process improvement.

Other factors that influence your work in industry include the company’s reliance on external advisors, available budget, the level of M&A or transactional activity, the corporate structure, and where key decisions are made. These elements shape the type of work you’ll handle.

While you won’t face “challenging clients” in the traditional sense, stakeholder management will be critical as you will be expected to build and manage relationships across cross-functional teams, supporting the business and ensuring tax considerations are appropriately integrated into decision-making.

Culture

Every organisation has its own unique culture, whether in a practice or industry setting.

What shapes culture? In my view, it’s the small, everyday actions of the people who work there. Because of this, it’s impossible to say that one environment—practice or industry—has a “better” culture. It all comes down to the individuals within the organisation and how they behave day to day.

The best way to assess whether you would be a good cultural fit is to engage with the people who work there. Even something as simple as the impression you get when walking into reception can provide a sense of the working environment. Ideally, this positive impression continues as you meet and interact with staff throughout the recruitment process.

Future career paths

If you remain in practice, your career progression will typically stay within tax.  A move to industry  may open doors to broader finance, commercial, or strategic roles, and could provide opportunities to move beyond tax altogether.

Careers in practice, especially in larger firms, tend to be more structured, with clear and transparent pathways. Promotions to manager, senior manager, director, and beyond are often well-defined and achievable if you stay on track.

In industry, promotional pathways for tax professionals may be less formal, but opportunities for learning, development, and career growth still exist. Moreover, as the importance of tax continues to rise globally, many organisations have expanded their in-house tax teams, creating additional roles and exceptional opportunities for career progression.

Work-life balance

It’s worth highlighting one of the most commonly discussed differences between practice and industry for tax professionals: work-life balance.

Does industry offer a better balance? The answer is: it depends.

In practice, the client-facing environment means you are expected to deliver according to your clients’ needs, often under tight deadlines. However, the corporate sector also has “clients” in the form of internal stakeholders and investors, where urgent deadlines can arise unexpectedly. Ultimately, it often comes down to who controls the workload.

Senior tax professionals in practice typically reach a stage where they can manage and prioritise their workload, and the same is true for tax teams in industry—especially when decision-making is based in Ireland or Europe.

Salaries & Benefits – There are clear differences in salaries and benefits when comparing practice and industry opportunities for tax professionals. We’ll explore this in more detail in an upcoming feature on salary insights, so stay tuned.

Final note: If you decide to move to industry, when should you move?

My advice is that, unless you are certain you want to leave practice or tax (for whatever reasons), make the move to industry once you can.  That said, gaining post-qualification experience in practice is valuable – it helps you develop your technical tax expertise and clarify the areas of tax that most interest you.

It is possible to make the move from practice to industry at almost any stage up to manager, senior manager, director or even partner.  However, as you progress, the number of opportunities decreases, competition increases and prior industry experience is often expected for senior positions.

Take the time to carefully consider your options. Your priorities now may shift over time, so it’s important to continually reassess and ensure your career moves align with your long-term goals.

If you want to have a 1:1 confidential conversation about your tax or treasury career, contact Kate Flanagan at kate.flanagan@barden.ie,  Aoibhín Byrne at aoibhin.byrne@barden.ie, or Aideen Murphy at aideen.murphy@barden.ie.

Are you unsure about your next step? We have outlined the most common questions and scenarios newly qualified accountants face. Wherever you are in your journey, Barden is here to guide you.

1. Should I Stay in Practice?

a) Yes, I think I will stay in practice.

→ Talk to Barden

b) No, it’s time for a change.

I will just move to industry… It’s all the same out there, right?

→ Talk to Barden

c) I’m out of here – you’ll find me in Dubai, Canada, or Australia!

→ Talk to Barden

2. Industry Type Is Irrelevant. I’m an Accountant, Numbers Are Numbers!

→ Talk to Barden

3. All Accountant Roles Are the Same, Right?

→ Talk to Barden

4. Anything I’m Missing?

→ That’s right, talk to Barden

Why Talk to Barden?

Barden is where recently qualified accountants go before they start looking for their next job. You’ll be meeting Ireland’s most experienced financial recruitment and talent advisory team – many of whom are themselves accounting and tax qualified.

Your future is too important to leave to chance. Take control, get informed, and plan your professional journey with Barden.

Finishing your training contract in 2026? Do you want to make sure you make the very best first step after qualifying? Do you want a coffee meeting with an experienced talent advisor; someone who is a qualified accountant, just like you (meet our Leinster team here>>> and our  Munster team here>>>)?

Do you want a little help to create your very own best professional future? No problem. Just drop us a line today on hello@barden.ie and we will take it from there. Simple.

After completing a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting at UCD and an MA in Accounting at LIT, Aoife joined Dalata Hotel Group as an Accounting and Tax Associate. She developed broad experience across accounting and tax functions whilst also achieving her ACA and CTA qualifications.  Aoife currently works as a Tax Analyst with IPL in Dublin.

Why did you choose a career in tax, and why did you decide to train in industry rather than following the well-trodden Big 4 route?

Accounting has always been part of my family — my parents are both accountants — so being an accountant was a very visible career option. For a long time, I resisted it and told myself I wouldn’t do accounting! It wasn’t until I interned at KPMG that I started exploring my path. I knew audit wasn’t for me, so I tried risk consulting, thinking it would be more exciting.

I attended a PwC open day, which led to a tax interview. I was offered a position on the grad programme, but later I explored industry options and found Dalata through a basketball contact. Their grad programme offered a diverse experience: a year in group finance, a year in hotel operations, and a year in internal audit. It felt like a better fit for me, given my background in a smaller business, than joining a massive intake at a Big 4 firm. I interviewed, received the offer, and chose Dalata.

When COVID hit, I started in head office, working concurrently on the tax and financial reporting teams from day one. About six months in, I decided to pursue tax exams while also continuing the accounting qualification. Throughout the grad contract, I was torn between accounting and tax. I ultimately chose tax as my first role post-qualifying because I enjoyed the challenge, the constantly changing environment, and the career flexibility it offered. I also continue to enjoy accounting — I lead much of the provisioning work — so I get the best of both worlds, balancing debits and credits with the dynamic nature of tax.

Taking the Dalata contract over a Big 4 contract has been my best career decision to date. The programme was so personalised and supportive and had a profound impact on me as an employee.

You mentioned choosing tax because of its ever-changing nature. Can you explain what that means in your day-to-day role?

Globalisation and regimes like Pillar Two mean there’s constant change. AI and industry developments are making tax more strategic, giving it a seat at the table at CFO-1 level rather than under finance. There’s more cross-border business, but also more compliance and strategic decision-making — from Country by Country Reporting to interest limitation rules and analysis.

How would you define success in a tax career?

Success in tax, for me, is being the person who creates a voice and awareness of tax within the business. Tax is becoming more strategic and plays a bigger role, but it doesn’t yet have decades of visibility or integration behind it. Often, you’re still navigating historical norms where tax was siloed.

Being successful means developing your own knowledge and skills so you can put tax at the forefront of key decision-makers’ minds. It involves influencing the business, ensuring tax considerations are part of strategic planning, and adapting your approach depending on the organisation’s culture and how tax has historically been viewed. Essentially, success is about bringing tax into the heart of the business, making it visible, relevant, and integrated.

What key skills are needed to be successful in tax?

Effective communication and strong relationship-building are critical. Tax professionals rely on having eyes and ears across the business, which only happens when trusted relationships are in place. By staying connected, you can spot emerging issues, upcoming deals, or operational changes early, often before they formally surface. Maintaining those relationships is just as important: clearly communicating priorities, managing competing demands, and being mindful of others’ pressures helps build credibility and goodwill. Even small actions, like sending a quick acknowledgement email, reinforce responsiveness and keep collaboration running smoothly.

The ability to translate technical tax into business-relevant language is essential. Educating non-tax colleagues and framing messages around their priorities ensures the information lands. You need to align tax advice with the needs of different departments and understand its impact on their teams. It’s about knowing the business and the people, how a tax decision will affect workloads, processes, or outcomes, so problems are anticipated and decisions are proactive rather than reactive.

Is there any technology you use now that you didn’t use when you were starting your career, and that has become central to your day-to-day work?

Technology is an area I’m actively working to improve. Tools like Copilot—whether for building Excel formulas, drafting emails, or summarising technical material—are genuinely useful and can speed up day‑to‑day work. But they also come with risks, especially for younger professionals like me who trained in industry and may not have the same depth of traditional tax research experience. It’s easy for technology to become a shortcut, so I’ve been encouraged to work on the core skills — reading legislation, analysing guidance and developing my own judgement – rather than relying solely on AI outputs, which can pull from unreliable sources. For me, the goal is to use technology as an enabler, not a replacement for the foundational technical skills every tax professional needs.

From a systems perspective, we also use Power BI for reporting and analytics, integrated with our ERP system and manufacturing machines. Our key decision makers can see near-real-time data on machine activity, downtime, and production volumes, which is extremely valuable for business insights.

In the tax team, we are exploring automation for manual tasks, such as provisioning, and have implemented LocTax, a tax compliance management system. This helps track hundreds of compliance obligations without relying on Excel trackers and email follow-ups.

Overall, technology adoption in tax tends to lag behind finance, ERP, and FP&A in the workplace, but tools are evolving. AI and automation are becoming essential for efficiency, freeing professionals to focus on higher-value work while managing the growing complexity of tax compliance and reporting.

In terms of globalisation, being more integrated into the business, communication, relationship-building, the rise of tax tools and the influence of technology, how do you think the tax profession is going to change over the next decade? Can you see any major shifts coming?

I think tax will grow and evolve with AI, but AI certainly won’t replace tax professionals. Tax is becoming more strategic, and that will only continue. There will be a much bigger focus on strategic, big-picture thinking and on the value-add role of the tax professional.

That said, compliance is still core to what we do. Everything strategic ultimately shows up in the tax returns and related filings. But I do think it will get easier with AI and better tools, particularly in areas like data entry, compliance testing and document review. We’ll still need to be comfortable overseeing it and taking responsibility for it, but the aim will be to free up time to dedicate to value-adding and advisory work.

Looking more broadly, with globalisation and new tax legislation like BEPS and Pillar Two, is there anything in the global tax environment, or in Ireland specifically, that could improve the way tax works or make compliance easier?

This is my first truly global role. Previously, I worked mainly with Ireland and the UK, but following a merger, the business is now active in 28 countries across Europea and North America. From that perspective, the Irish tax system is very strong. Compared to Canada and the US, where filing processes are extremely complex, including faxed forms in the US and cheque refunds in Canada, Ireland’s system is detailed but efficient. Compliance works and isn’t unnecessarily complicated.

Even more broadly, countries like Germany can be very rigid, focusing strictly on the law with little room for practical solutions. In contrast, Ireland, the UK, and the Netherlands often emphasise practical implementation and interpretation. Ireland’s position in the global tax conversation is significant, partly because of FDI, our corporate tax rate, and high-profile cases like the Apple case. It makes the system more visible and globally influential.

One of my biggest surprises has been how efficient the Irish system is compared to other jurisdictions. While there’s always room for improvement, in terms of practical compliance and accessibility, Ireland is ahead of many countries, and its system works well for businesses navigating both domestic and international tax obligations.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in tax?

Even five years in, I still feel like a newbie with so much to learn. My main advice is not to be afraid to take the alternative route. The majority of commerce students specialising in accounting go into the Big 4, and that’s fine, but if a different path feels right, pursue it.

Be willing to work hard and learn. Much of my work is on non-Irish tax: US and Canadian tax, transfer pricing and debt financing, all areas I didn’t study in depth, yet I use them daily. Being open to learning and taking advice from managers, peers, and colleagues is essential.

Having mentors and career support is invaluable. I reached out to Aoibhín in Barden after hearing her speak at a panel because in-house training isn’t the norm, and I wanted guidance on hire-ability and navigating the job market. That support was hugely helpful, and I still keep in touch with her to stay informed and get advice.

If you want to have a 1:1 confidential conversation about your tax or treasury career, contact Aoibhín Byrne (Leinster) at aoibhin.byrne@barden.ie, Kate Flanagan (Ireland) at kate.flanagan@barden.ie, or Aideen Murphy (Munster) at aideen.murphy@barden.ie.

Are you about to finish your training contract and are considering your options overseas?

Here Siobhán Sexton ACA, Associate Director in Barden’s recently qualified accountant practice, gives a market update about the current landscape and opportunities for those about to come out of a training contract.

2026 – A More Open and Dynamic Market
Over the last 18 months the landscape has evolved for newly qualified accountants. The appetite to move abroad remains among newly qualified accountants, with people exploring opportunities in traditional hotspots like Australia, London and Canada, but also expanding into emerging markets like mainland Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But this desire has not been as strong as it was in prior years, with more people choosing to stay local.
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For those coming out of contract in 2026, the number of options at home has stabilised compared to previous years. Industries that are hiring are varied, and additionally, new start-ups are offering roles that didn’t exist just a few years ago. This opens up new possibilities for newly qualified accountants to diversify their career paths. AI is also becoming a major part of accounting roles, and the ability to demonstrate experience with it will really stand out to people.
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We have also seen accountants moving abroad find it a little trickier to secure a longer-term role, as companies abroad have a strong supply of similar profiles. We have seen people return home after a year or two rather than staying abroad longer-term.

What This Means for You as a Newly Qualified Accountant in 2026

Here are some key trends for newly qualified accountants this year:
  1. Global Opportunities: If you’re considering moving abroad, key markets like Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Canada have seen a huge influx of newly qualified Irish accountants in recent years. This has resulted in accountants moving abroad finding it a little trickier to secure a longer-term role, as companies abroad have a strong supply of newly qualified accountant profiles.
We have also seen people returning home from abroad sooner than originally planned in late 2025/early 2026, given the difficulty of finding longer-term opportunities abroad and changes in the economic environment.

Conclusion

For newly qualified accountants in Ireland in 2026 there are opportunities both domestically and internationally. Companies across a range of sectors are seeking strong talent, offering attractive packages, flexible working arrangements and the chance to work in dynamic and growing industries.
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If you need advice, feel free to connect with our teams in Leinster and Munster. We have a wealth of experience, both in placing accountants across Ireland and helping professionals make the move abroad, through our trusted network of global recruitment partners. Whether it’s Australia, London, Canada or further afield, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
Join our free Moving Abroad webinar this Friday at 1pm – registration here>>>

Finishing your training contract in 2026? Do you want to make sure you make the very best first step after qualifying? Do you want a coffee meeting with an experienced talent advisor; someone who is a qualified accountant, just like you (meet our Leinster team here>>> and our  Munster team here>>>)?

Do you want a little help to create your very own best professional future? No problem. Just drop us a line today on hello@barden.ie and we will take it from there. Simple.

Audit as a profession is often in the spotlight.

For quite some time, the supply of external audit talent in Ireland has been significantly below demand. This has been evident from the reliance we’ve had on other talent markets, including the Philippines, India and Pakistan.

The audit talent supply has faced many challenges over the last number of years. From the outflow of talent to international markets and other verticals, to the slight “audit aversion” – there is a lot to digest.

Here are some things that may be worth thinking about as an audit professional or audit hiring manager…

#1 Perception of Audit Careers in Practice

Before we dive into real-time data, it’s vital we take a step back and assess the perception of external audit as a profession.

For the purposes of this Talent Monitor, we are not focusing on client bases below the audit threshold.

We’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the audit community, and here are some shared views of a long-term career in audit…

There are thousands of people happily employed in the external audit world worldwide; however by the nature of the general audit training route in Ireland, many leave the audit profession on completion of their training. It’s important to note that this is to do with the structure of a typical audit training path and not the audit profession itself – many professionals are burnt out and feel a career change (or career break) is necessary.

Although this profession evokes mixed feelings, the role of the external auditor is crucial in maintaining the financial health and integrity of businesses.

#2 The Audit Landscape

When assessing your audit experience and how this may be perceived on the external audit market, it’s important to consider…

For the purposes of transparency, let’s categorise the audit landscape into two categories based on client base – Generalist and Specialist.

As a Generalist

Client Base – usually serves local businesses and SME’s. More diverse in terms of industry. More likely to have direct and frequent interactions with clients, providing personalised services while building strong relationships.

Scope of Work – a broad range of audit responsibilities and tends to be involved at all stages of the audit – planning, execution and reporting. Need to adapt to a variety of client needs and industries, offering a broader skillset. The audit team can also wear multiple hats and support other areas of the firm, i.e. payroll, accounts preparation, tax compliance.

Team Structure – Smaller teams, often with more responsibility and autonomy. Less hierarchical in terms of structure.

As a Specialist

Client Base – support larger businesses, including multinational corporations, public companies and government entities. Relationships tend to be managed by senior members of the team, so less direct client interaction at a junior level. Larger audit firms can have dedicated industry teams, allowing you to develop a niche, so you may only gain exposure to certain industries, i.e. financial services, pharmaceuticals, technology.

Scope of Work – the audits tend to be larger and more complex, with enhanced reporting requirements leading to a higher degree of risk. They can also involve multiple accounting standards, various jurisdictions and extensive documentation. Roles will be more specialised, and you may only focus on a specific area of the audit. More likely to use advanced audit software and data analytics tools.

Team Structure – Larger teams, often with less responsibility and autonomy. More hierarchical in terms of structure, with defined roles. More likely you will collaborate with other specialists, i.e. tax, advisory.

#3 Base

As we have explored above, the role of an auditor can differ depending on the client portfolio, which tends to be influenced by the size of the firm you’re working in.

For the purposes of transparency, we’re going to focus on years of experience and audit category (Specialist or Generalist).

This is also a very broad guideline, and it’s important to understand the specifics of each individual role, i.e., people management, scope of responsibilities, business development initiatives and technical knowledge.

As you will notice, deemed specialists are paid a premium for their technical knowledge as their clients are under more scrutiny in terms of financial regulation.

#3 Demand v Supply

The demand for audit professionals in practice continues to outweigh the supply of experienced audit professionals, which can largely be explained by:

The audit professional is in “very high demand”. Here are some data points about the audit talent pool in Ireland this quarter. It’s important to note that while a portion of the talent pool is demonstrating job-seeking behaviours, the majority are likely to be seeking a move away from the external audit profession.

#4 What are employers doing to attract Audit talent?

In Barden, we understand that each team, role, and requirement is unique. If you would like to discuss what tactics and approaches would suit you, please feel free to contact Aoibhín Byrne, our Audit Talent Advisor & Recruiter here in Barden (aoibhin.byrne@barden.ie); we’re where leaders go before they start looking for Audit talent.

This information is accurate as per April 2026 and will be updated periodically. Data sources include Barden Proprietary Data, LinkedIn Analytics and other 3rd party data sources. If you have a request and would like real-time information to inform your hiring decisions, contact Aoibhín Byrne at aoibhin.byrne@barden.ie.

Ireland’s engineering profession is a dynamic and vital sector, encompassing a wide range of disciplines such as civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering. The profession is known for its strong export performance, with engineering products and services accounting for a substantial portion of national exports.

The profession is known for its best-in-class talent originating from world-renowned engineering courses in Irish universities.

#1 Engineering Verticals

Engineering qualifications cover diverse fields such as those identified below. For this report, we have decided not to include an analysis of the civil or structural engineering professions.

Each field has distinct roles: mechanical engineers design machinery, electrical engineers develop power systems, chemical engineers manage chemical processes and so on.

Illustrated below is where each of the above qualifications can sit within the engineering lifecycle.

 #2 Engineering Variables 

Job title alone often does not capture the full scope of an Engineering role. Here are the key variables that help define what a position truly entails:

#3 Engineering Levels

Engineering levels typically reflect an engineer’s experience, skills, and responsibilities. Here is a general overview of how these levels might be described.

These levels can vary between organizations, but they generally reflect an engineer’s progression from learning and applying basic principles (L1, L2, etc) to leading and innovating at the highest levels (L8, L9, L10+, etc).

#4 Salary Data

Below is a high-level salary guide for engineers based on their years of experience and the size of the team they are responsible for, if they oversee a team. It is a caveat that the chart below is a guide, however, Barden’s engineering practice can help talent and hiring teams benchmark at a more precise level based on the scope of the role, nature of business, etc. This data was extracted from the Engineers Ireland salary survey 2025.

#5 Demand Versus Supply

Here is what we have observed from Q3 2024 – Q3 2025 in the Engineering talent pool in Ireland:

#6 What are companies doing to attract talent?

#7 Projected challenges for the next 12 months

For employers:

For Talent:

In Barden, we understand that each team, role, and requirement is unique. If you would like to discuss what tactics and approaches would suit you, please feel free to contact Jonathan Olden, our Engineering Talent Advisor & Recruiter here in Barden (jonathan.olden@barden.ie); we’re where leaders go before they start looking for Engineering talent.

This information is accurate as per April 2026 and will be updated periodically. Data sources include Barden Proprietary Data, LinkedIn Analytics and other 3rd party data sources. If you have a request and would like real-time information to inform your hiring decisions, contact Jonathan Olden at jonathan.olden@barden.ie.

Business Support professionals – the people who keep organisations moving.

There’s a lot more to business support professionals than meets the eye. Behind the calendar invites, scheduling and office administration, these people are the glue that holds organisations together and are essential to the smooth operation of an organisation

It is important to understand the value a business support professional can add to your organisation. This can range from junior administrators who hold entry-level roles or more senior, highly experienced professionals who have made a career of providing immeasurable support to organisations. These professionals find opportunities to add value to the operations of a company while continuing to develop in their own careers and making it easier for others to do their roles.

#1 The Continuum Of Activity

In the business support industry, job titles alone don’t capture the full scope of a role. It’s the specific responsibilities and demands placed on individuals that truly define their positions. Whether it’s a receptionist managing the first impressions of a company or an Executive Assistant coordinating high-level operations, understanding the context behind each title is essential to appreciate the true value these professionals bring to their organisations.

The continuum of activity for a business support professional can be understood as a range of tasks and responsibilities that vary in complexity.

Variables Influencing Business Support Roles:

The role of business support professionals can vary widely depending on factors like company size, the complexity of the day-to-day operations, and the level of specialisation needed. Hiring managers need to understand these factors to match their talent effectively.

#2 Salary Insights:

Salaries and compensation for business support professionals in Ireland are influenced by several factors, including the level of experience, specific job role, industry, and location. Overall, the salary range for business support roles can vary widely, reflecting the diverse opportunities and career paths available within the field.

Examples of Recently Delivered Assignments:

This is a very broad guideline and it’s important to take into account the specifics of each individual role. For bespoke advice please contact susan.greene@barden.ie.

#3 Challenges for Attracting & Retaining Talent for the future:

Hiring business support talent comes with its own set of challenges. Recognising the intricacies of challenges allows companies to develop more efficient recruitment and retention strategies. Offering competitive salaries, flexible working conditions, and providing continuous learning are crucial to attracting and nurturing adaptable, innovative talent.

#4 Demand vs Supply

Here’s what we’ve noticed this quarter in the administration and business support talent pool in Ireland:

In Barden, we understand that each team, role, and requirement is unique. If you would like to discuss what tactics and approaches would suit you, please feel free to contact Susan Greene our Business Support Talent Advisor & Recruiter here in Barden (susan.greene@barden.ie); we’re where leaders go before they start looking for Business Support talent.

This information is accurate as per April 2026 and will be updated periodically. Data sources include Barden Proprietary Data, LinkedIn Analytics and other 3rd party data sources. If you have a request and would like real-time information to inform your hiring decisions, contact Susan Greene at susan.greene@barden.ie.