Jump Back
Barden’s National Talent Monitor is a quarterly snapshot of Ireland’s private enterprise professional workforce, covering all major professions including accounting, engineering, analytics, administration, legal, engineering and beyond. Collated from multiple data sources (LinkedIn data mining, CSO data, Barden data, and a third-party proprietary source), using our unique research methodologies, we identify patterns and insights that help business leaders make more informed decisions about their talent attraction and retention strategies.
#1 Key Talent Market Trends
1.1 Barden Beveridge Curve
The Barden Beveridge Curve is an indicator of employment activity and talent demand in the market. It plots job vacancy rates against unemployment levels, with movements to the top left indicating higher demand for talent and movements to the bottom right indicating lower demand.
Specifically curated by Barden to represent private enterprise professionals, the curve helps track trends using CSO data, which lags quarter-on-quarter.
Q3 2025 reflects what we have all seen in the market to date. Job vacancies are remaining steady, while the unemployment rate has risen slightly. This trend continues from Q2 and reaffirms that a levelling in activity is happening across the market. A slight rise in unemployment alongside fewer job vacancies reflects the seasonal softening we typically see during the summer months.
The outlook remains competitive, and employers who act decisively and plan strategically in the months ahead will be best positioned to secure the talent that they need as we move into 2026.
1.2 Job-Seeking Behaviour
19.1% of professionals in Ireland are demonstrating job-seeking behaviour, a decrease of 7.0 percentage points from this time last year.
This decline is being driven by the same factors contributing to subdued job numbers in the market: macro-level uncertainty and an elevated perception of risk. Ongoing forecasts of a potential AI bubble throughout 2025, continuous commentary around productivity gains from AI, and expectations of reduced hiring rather than outright job losses are all contributing to caution. This is compounded by broader macro and geopolitical uncertainty, including nervousness around tariffs.
Of those exhibiting job-seeking activity, 9% actually changed roles last year. For a company with 100 employees, a normalised turnover rate suggests a loss of 9–10 people annually.* As above, this number can be used to benchmark a company’s current turnover rate against the norm.
1.3 Tenure and Role Changes
The median tenure for professionals remains unchanged at 1.6 years, meaning that while people are not necessarily changing companies every 1.6 years, they are likely changing roles within that timeframe (promotion, moving teams, etc.).
Leaders should consider this when planning promotions, development, and succession strategies.*
1.4 Gender Balance
Workforce participation in this cohort is 42% female and 58% male, though disparities exist across professions and seniority levels.*
1.5 Talent Movement Trends
In 2025, Ireland’s professional workforce increased by 6,623 people, down from a net gain of approximately 11,000 in 2024, representing a 40% reduction in net inflows. This decline in the number of professionals moving to Ireland warrants close monitoring over the coming quarters, as it may indicate reduced competitiveness as an international destination for talent.
At the same time, Ireland is losing less talent to other English-speaking jurisdictions than in previous years, which may reflect a return to normal following the post-pandemic peak in mobility. However, structural factors such as cost-of-living pressures, accommodation availability and cost, and the tax burden on high earners relative to other jurisdictions are likely influencing decision-making. These factors may increasingly “come home to roost” and should be monitored closely. While there is no cause for panic, the trend is notable and should be explicitly called out.
#2 Trends in Work Arrangements and Benefits
2.1 Hybrid Work as the Norm
Hybrid working has clearly become the norm, with 78% of roles now operating on a two-to-three-day hybrid basis. Fully remote roles continue to decline, specifically for location-agnostic professional roles such as accountants, technology professionals, and legal roles, rather than site-dependent occupations such as healthcare or construction.
This continued reduction in fully remote opportunities has two key implications:
1) Companies that can genuinely offer fully remote roles retain a clear competitive advantage, while talent seeking fully remote work will face a very limited set of options. Many professionals currently working fully remotely are doing so mainly because of legacy post-pandemic arrangements rather than because of new role availability.
2) Full-time office-based roles have steadily increased and now account for 15% of all roles. However, as the vast majority of talent continues to expect flexibility, organisations mandating full-time office attendance are significantly restricting their talent pool and reducing geographic access to skills. Four-to-five-day office requirements represent a clear competitive disadvantage in hiring.
Hybrid working has effectively become a default expectation within the overall reward package, alongside base salary, bonuses, pension, and healthcare. Flexibility is now viewed not as a benefit, but as a standard component of professional employment.
2.2 Reward Packages
Offering 23–25 days of annual leave or more is critical. Anything less puts companies at a notable disadvantage in attracting and retaining talent.
The mode represents the number that occurs the most in a given list.
The most frequent (mode) employer pension contribution offered remains unchanged at 5% and for bonuses, it is 10%. However, it is important to highlight that standard benefits vary significantly between SMEs and multinational companies.*
#3 Are you shaping your Talent Strategy?
The above data provides valuable national-level insights, but competition for talent is typically local rather than national. While understanding the macro perspective is essential, it should be complemented with real-time, localised, peer-to-peer comparisons to assess your organisation’s true competitiveness for talent and inform strategic decision-making. For example, a large multinational group function will typically not be competing for the same talent as a local SME in a given location.
This is where Barden can help you. We offer over 20 profession-specific talent monitors, such as for early-career accountants or data analysts, that provide real-time, quarter-by-quarter insights. While some of this data is publicly available here>>>, bespoke analysis remains key to effectively shaping your talent strategy.
*For more detailed insights, peer comparisons, company-specific turnover data, performance benchmarks, or gender diversity trends by profession and level, contact Ed Heffernan at ed.heffernan@barden.ie for bespoke insights to help shape your talent strategy.