Analysis: Changing work patterns, labour supply and demographics are all shaping the Irish labour market and workplace
Steven Lucas is a Senior Statistician in the Central Statistics Office (CSO), and he explains what their data can tell us about employment trends in Ireland.
How is employment measured?
The official estimate of employment is drawn from the Labour Force Survey, where 32,500 households across the country are sampled every three months. Data from this survey allows us to ask different types of households detailed questions on specific elements of the labour market, such as hours worked, type of employment, availability for work, or illness or disability status, which might not be readily available from other data sources.
The CSO also harnesses alternative administrative data sources, gathered by other public service bodies and adopted by the CSO for statistical purposes, to provide a timely and accurate picture of the labour market at any given time.
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Taken together, the CSO's ability to combine administrative and survey data securely and confidentially means we can provide a more complete picture of the labour market in Ireland than any other agency and provide insights on trends over time.
What kind of trends are you seeing?
Overall, Ireland has seen record levels of employment and low unemployment since the pandemic, but more recent figures show that growth has become more subdued. Our employment rate reached 75.3% in Q3 2024, which was the highest level in the series since 1998. It eased to 74.3% by Q2 2026, although the 2.84 million in employment during that quarter was still the highest level reported in the State. Over that time, the unemployment rate rose to 5.1% from 4.8% in 2025. While the labour market is strong by historical standards, it is important to continually monitor the core indicators for emerging trends.
Among those standout longer-term changes is the greater participation of women in the workforce. There were over 1.3 million women in employment in Q2 2026, up almost 90% since Q1 2000. Women now account for a large majority of workers in sectors such as Human Health & Social Work and Education. There is still a gender gap in terms of employment rates and pay as women remain more concentrated in part-time work, but the scale and composition of female employment have changed substantially.
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We are also seeing people working for longer. People aged 55 and over accounted for around 20% of the labour force in Q2 2026, almost double what it was in 2000. We can also see that those aged 65 and over are working beyond the traditional retirement age. Since 2022, employment among this older age group is up by almost 30%. This reflects our aging population, as well as changing retirement decisions and financial circumstances, improved health and the availability of flexible work.
What trends are we seeing with young people in the workforce?
Younger people tend to have a different relationship with the labour market because many are combining work with school, college or training. They are more likely to work part-time, and for fewer hours, in areas such as accommodation, food and retail.
Youth employment is also more sensitive to changes in the economic cycle. The employment rate for 15 to 24-year-olds was 45.2% in Q2 2026, down from 46.7% a year earlier, while the youth unemployment rate was 13.2%. That compares with an unemployment rate of 4.2% for people aged between 25 and 74.
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What other trends are we seeing in the Irish labour market?
Changing work patterns, labour supply and demographics are all shaping the Irish labour market. Close to 1 million people reported working from home at least sometimes in Q2 2026, although that number has fallen over the year, and over 1.8 million people in employment reported that they never work from home.
Non-Irish nationals accounted for 61.4% of the increase in employee numbers between 2019 and 2024, with particularly high representation in Administrative & Support Services, Accommodation & Food Services and Information & Communication.
Have wages increased much in the last five years?
Generally, wages are increasing across all sectors. In 2025, average weekly earnings surpassed €1,000 for the first time since our series began in 2008.
Average weekly earnings rose by just under 24% between Q1 2021 and Q1 2026, from €861 to €1,065. Those working in Financial & Real Estate enjoyed the highest increase, up almost 30% from €1,347 in Q1 2021 to €1,748 in Q1 2026, while wages in Wholesale & Retail Trade were up by around 18% from €624 in Q1 2021 to €739 in Q1 2026. The Consumer Price Index increased by 24.0% over the same period.
The CSO publishes a wealth of data on housing, food, transport and much more. More information can be found online or on various social channels.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
