Breakfast Business with Joe Lynam
Irish workers are doubling-down on flexibility and stability
04 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: Why are Irish workers prioritizing flexibility and stability?
So Irish workers are doubling down on flexibility and stability as employers take a wait-and-see approach following the budget. That's according to Matrix Recruitment's latest Workforce Trends Report for Q3. And we're joined now by the Head of Recruitment at Matrix Recruitment, Brida Dooley. Good morning, Brida.
Good morning, Tom.
So, Brida, you're saying that employees are opting more for flexibility while employers are more likely to go for contracts and temporary extensions. Is it that employees are opting for greater inflexibility or that they have no choice because that's the way that employers are going?
Employees are, I suppose, for the last two years, they've always been looking for stability. They want flexibility. They want the hybrid work and definitely want this work-life balance. While salaries do matter, they do want a culture where they can... This is one of their major decision drivers. So work-life balance is definitely the new currency. Hybrid is no longer a perk.
It's an expectation as well. But contracting, we did see that surge towards the end of quarter three. particularly in the areas of finance, engineering and healthcare. And employers, I suppose, had to use contracts to maintain output and flexibility while, you know, they were waiting for the budget and there was a little bit of economic landscape unsettled there, out there.
So contracting was becoming a more strategic part of the workforce model for companies. And they were seeing, and it wasn't just a stock gap. And contract, I suppose, it does benefit both the employee and the employer, it does allow a lot more flexibility for the employee. And we are seeing a lot more of the niche, skilled professionals looking for contract work.
That also allows the employer to align it and have more flexibility in their business too.
Now, niche skilled professionals have for some time been looking more towards contract work. I'm thinking obviously of tech consultants. But are you seeing that the tendency towards contract work is moving into other areas?
Absolutely. We are seeing this more across, you know, the engineering side of it, the finance side of it, obviously the tech sector too as well. And then we are seeing this in some of the health care sectors as well. People want that kind of flexibility.
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Chapter 2: What trends are emerging in employee contracts and hiring?
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.
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?
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.
Brida, how would you describe the mood of the jobs market at the moment, both from an employer and employee point of view?
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.
So I say the market is steady. is cautious, but is certainly confident.
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?
I would say that the market will still be steady and it will, you know, adapt and it will be forward looking going into 2026. We do expect moderate hiring and especially in, I suppose, some of those areas I was talking about, the technical, the finance, the supply chain and life sciences, we are seeing growth there. We are seeing a lot more of the
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Chapter 3: How is the demand for contract work changing in various sectors?
I suppose the SMEs, the smaller Irish manufacturing companies, we're talking to them a lot at the moment. And they're talking about a lot of growth expansions, which wasn't there at the beginning or the middle of the year, but certainly going into quarter four, we're having a lot of conversations where 2026 companies are talking about expansion.
Maybe on the multinational side, it has, you know, expansion plans did pause. I would say they'd certainly start to come back in in 2026. So Ireland isn't certainly slowing, it's evolving. And I would say our employers who are looking at retention and recruitment you know, to start early and get strong going into 2026.
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?
Plan ahead. That's what I would say. Employees need to stay competitive. They need to look internally and look at what they can offer. They need to prioritize retention. If they have good staff and good, you know, particularly at mid-level management, they're the ones that we are seeing are more active in the market. They're the ones that are actively out there looking for jobs.
Retain them, develop them, offer flexibility. I know every company can't offer flexibility in terms of hybrid. But if there's other areas, they can't. That's to retain the staff and invest in skills and, as we say, succession planning as well. Review your salaries. Make sure that your salaries are at the level that they should be at compared to your competitors around.
Our salary survey will be coming out later this month for 2026. So review them and make sure they're in line. Explore regional talent pools. Look out there. Who can you attract into your business? And I would say if you're planning to hire in 2026, you know, talk to Matrix Recruitment, get a recruitment strategy in place so that you're ready to kind of hire those people.
So retention, flexibility and cautious learning will define the winners in 2026.
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Chapter 4: What impact did the recent budget have on employer decisions?
OK, Brida Dooley, Head of Recruitment at Matrix Recruitment, thanks for joining us this morning.