Brida Dooley

People want that kind of flexibility.

You know, they take on a contract for 24 months and then they develop really new good skills in that and allows them then to go into another company and use those skills as well.

So it's definitely something that employees in the professional service are looking at.

I suppose what we did see that employers paused some decisions ahead of the budget.

What we are now seeing are renewed planning.

The increase in the minimum wage, you know, that, you know, they were waiting to see.

They wanted more clarity.

before they made decisions.

So now that they have the budget, there is that clarity now and they can start planning out there for growth in 2026.

I would say the market is absolutely steady.

It's a resilient market out there.

Hiring, it hasn't stopped, but I can certainly say it's not booming to where it was in 2026 and to 2023.

Companies are, we are seeing they are protecting their key talent.

They are kind of extending contracts and there's a lot more focus on retention and skills development.

They are looking internally at their staff and seeing who are our core team here.

Who do we want to retain in this?

So we will continue to develop them.

and offer kind of career progressions.

If a company is offering career progressions within an organisation, they will retain their staff.

So employers are engaging, managing costs more responsibly while they're preparing for growth in 2026.