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Bright outlook for county Clare economy in 2023

DESPITE the very high level of inflation seen over the last year, the economic outlook is still quite strong as 2023 begins. While lay-offs in the technology sector have raised concerns, Joe Robbins of Careerwise Recruitment feels those are not reflective of the overall health of the local and national jobs market. “We’re still effectively at full employment. We’re still finding it very hard to find people at all levels. I think we’re very lucky that we have a very diverse economy. “The technology companies are down right now and they’re letting a lot of people go, but if these people can migrate into the medical device/pharma-type companies then there are loads of opportunities still. It’s very buoyant right now.” While inflation is very high, in many cases workers have seen their incomes rise significantly. “Because it’s such a competitive economy the wages have increased. It’s a messy environment as well, people might have two or three opportunites to change …

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Shannon foodbank working hard to meet surging demand

THE Feed Clare foodbank at the Kincora building in Shannon Town Centre, is now only operating every second Friday. Karen Cassidy has been involved in its operation for years, and she said the last few months have seen a huge jump in demand. “Oh gosh, yeah. In the last two months I’d say we’ve had an increase of about one third. Last month I think we had 22 new applicants, which is a lot for a small town like Shannon.” On an average week it provides support to around 50 families. “I suppose we have about 120 on our list altogether. Not all of them would come every week, some would come once a month or something like that. But that’s the situation now.” All levels of society are grappling with the worst level of inflation seen in decades, but it’s harder for some than others. “I had a single mother come in recently, she would have five or six …

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Employers and job seekers benefit from Fair connection

HUNDREDS of people attended a recent jobs fair at the Ennis Digital Hub on the Quin Road in Ennis, while almost 30 employers and recruiters participated.  The event was planned by five local organisations who saw the desirability of such an event for both employers and job seekers; Clare Local Development Company, Grow Remote, EmployAbility Clare, Digiclare, and the Department of Social Protection. Paul Ellingstad is Ennis area Community Co-ordinator for Grow Remote, an organisation which seeks to make remote working more accessible, and he said the day had been a great success. “We were really pleasantly surprised. We had been hearing anecdotally, both from job seekers and employers, that they’d like something, so these five organisations got together and said let’s do it. “We had almost 400 people registered on Eventbrite and we figured on the day there were definitely over 300 people and 28 employers and recruiters, so it was a fantastic turnout all round.” He said there …

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Major issues for employers amid tight labour market conditions

AT the moment many companies are facing a slew of problems in terms of recruitment, retention and management of workers, according to Joe Robbins of Shannon-based CareerWise recruitment. Last week a poll suggested 63% of Irish workers were disengaged from their job, but Mr Robbins says that figure, while alarming, is actually an underestimate. “It’s far higher than that. Millennials, modern young people, they want more than just working from home, they want to be able to take time out to go to the gym or do charity work or whatever, there’s a huge disengagement around the world.” At the same time there is a huge demand for people, with labour shortages across various sectors. “The labour market is very, very tight now. You saw last week that Ireland has surpassed 2.5 million people working. “There’s a huge shortage of all sorts of people now; hospitality, production and manufacturing, finance, supply chain, R&D, there’s a shortage of people everywhere. It’s …

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Just under 5,000 on live register in Clare

THE number of people on the live register in Clare rose last month, going from 4,587 in June to 4,929 in July. The number signing on at the Social Welfare office in Ennis increased from 2,302 to 2,513, while in Ennistymon it went from 923 to 995. In Kilrush the figure increased from 923 to 995, while in Tulla it went from 638 to 670. The Clare figure is just over 700 higher than it was last July, when it stood at 4,228. Clare has received a significant amount of refugees due to the war in Ukraine, and this complicates making direct comparisons, as the Central Statistics Office say that many of the new arrivals are receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance. “There were 9,942 people benefitting from the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive included in the Live Register figures for July 2022, an increase of 2,795 from June 2022. “People arriving in Ireland from Ukraine under the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive can access …

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Changed attitudes to work leading to labour shortage – hotelier

ATTITUDES to work have changed quite dramatically since before the pandemic, and it’s one of the reasons Clare tourism is going to see a huge labour shortage this summer, Lahinch hotelier Michael Vaughan says. Mr Vaughan said that conversations he has had with people in other sectors suggest the shortage is quite widespread across the economy, and he feels that younger people don’t attach as much importance to work as they would have done even a few years ago. “The only explanation I can give is that there has been a reset in the mindset of a certain cohort. Certainly younger people aged from 20 to 30 seem to have reset their opinion of what the balance of work and life is. “That allied to the surplus of money that a lot of that age group might have from the pandemic payments, this year they’re not inclined to take up seasonal work or work that’d be full time. “There seems …

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Clare economy ‘providing jobs at a ferocious rate’

THE Clare economy is in a very strong position and is “providing jobs at a ferocious rate”, according to a leading county council executive. The Council’s Director of Economic Development Liam Conneally told this week’s meeting of Shannon Municipal District Councillors that many of the multinationals with bases in the county are doing particularly well. At the meeting Mr Conneally, giving an update to the members, said despite the pandemic, Foreign Direct Investment in the Mid-West had been “very considerable” between 2019 and 2021. “We are close to reaching full employment,” he added. He said that across the board, in terms of foreign direct investment, indigenous businesses and micro businesses supported by the Council, there is very considerable job creation. Mr Conneally said that sometimes the good work done by agencies of the State is overlooked, while he said the Council has been working very positively with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, while he said that the Clare Local Enterprise …

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Average rent in Clare rises to €900

County saw the second highest rent rise in country over 12-month period CLARE has seen the second highest increase in rents in Ireland over the past year. Average rents in the county now stand at almost €900, according to the Residential Tenancies Board, with a 16.1% increase in one year. Between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021, Clare had the second highest increase in Ireland. The standardised average rent in Clare is now €894.06, and while the growth in Clare has been very substantial and fast, the average price here is still lower than in 13 other counties. The RTB found that in the Shannon Municipal District the average rent is €967.08, while in the Ennis Municipal District it is €921.55. Figures for the county’s other Municipal Districts were not available. The RTB said the situation in the second quarter of the year was influenced by the Covid-19 situation at that time. “At present, economic …

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