Jess Kelly

So obviously, as I mentioned there, it's been a turbulent week in terms of the tech jobs market.

Before we go down that rabbit hole, can you just talk me through some of the trends that have come out from the latest research compiled by Irish Jobs?

And are there certain sectors that are doing better than others?

Because again, as I mentioned at the top of the show, meta aren't the only ones in the tech sphere that are looking at either reducing headcounts or redeploying people or increasing the use of AI and all the rest.

So are there certain sectors that are performing better than others in terms of that job's growth?

When we look at the entry level jobs, this is an area that I'm fascinated by because I'm 18 years in Newstalk now, but I started as an intern making tea and coffee.

And the stuff that I learned during that internship, I think, has stood to me more than my three years of Irish and geography in UCD.

There is something really beneficial to entry level positions, but we're now seeing a bit of a trend or hearing a bit about a trend of those lower level positions not being made available in certain sectors because of AI.

Is that ringing true in what you're seeing?

Yeah, and I think it's funny for kids who are about to face into the leaving right now.

It is increasingly difficult to know what to put down on the CAO form.

I remember when I was not long out of college, all the conversations around me were you should have done programming, you should have been a programmer.

That's where the future lies.

And now we're hearing that a lot of those jobs are being targeted or replaced or augmented or whatever language you want to use by AI.

It's very difficult to kind of look into a crystal ball and see what the best or most valuable degree is going to be in five years time.

I've been reading some research that shows maybe an apprenticeship, which sometimes isn't looked upon as favourably, could be the way to go.

So, again, if we're looking at this time next year and we're having this conversation about your 2027 research and so on, is there any indication as to how dramatic the trends will be in terms of difference from this year, if you get what I mean?

Like, are we on a trajectory or is it a bit of a Ronan Keating roller coaster where you just don't know where you're going to go next?

In terms of the disruption and the displacement by AI, is this an argument for workers to engage in that lifelong learning process?

Because even if you are displaced by AI, if you can show that you have