Joe Lynam

It tells us the increase is driven by competition for construction work, which has led to additional labour costs.

The news is based on a report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors.

And we'll be talking to the president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors later in the programme.

Now, niche skilled professionals have for some time been looking more towards contract work.

The Financial Times leads with news that Kimberly Clark, which is the maker of Huggies and Andrex, has agreed to buy Tylenol owner Kenview for $48.7 billion, adding to a resurgence in U.S.

I'm thinking obviously of tech consultants.

But are you seeing that the tendency towards contract work is moving into other areas?

dealmaking and, the paper says, cementing this year as a record one for large takeovers.

The FT also reports on OpenAI, which has signed a $38 billion deal with Amazon Web Services, bringing OpenAI's total recent commitments to close to $1.5 trillion.

And we look at that story in the markets later.

Breakfast Business with Enterprise Ireland on Newstalk.

Now, you said that employers are taking a wait and see following changes in the budget.

What changes in the budget and what are they waiting for?

Brida, how would you describe the mood of the jobs market at the moment, both from an employer and employee point of view?

OK, and that cautious has led to a focus on retention, internal upskilling and contract extensions rather than new hiring.

But do you think that caution, and you mentioned that some of it was related to the budget and, of course, the changes in the minimum wage.

Do you think that caution is short term or do you think it's likely to be retained by employers in the medium term?

Given that, and it's good to hear that SMEs are looking at looking at growth and looking at hiring, particularly into the new year as we as we approach the new year.

But given that we're at pretty much full employment, where are you advising SMEs to get those new employees?

OK, Brida Dooley, Head of Recruitment at Matrix Recruitment, thanks for joining us this morning.