2023 was an odd year in recruitment. AI finally stormed in, akin to a hangry bull in a China shop. Terrifying and enthralling in equal measures. You know it will probably kill you but, lordo, it’s fun to watch.
The excitement continued throughout the year as Irish recruiters and their HR/Talent Management counterparts cautiously embraced AI, using Chat GPT to craft original, meaningful job descriptions – a refreshing change from the usual copy-paste from Indeed. These descriptions were so good, they could’ve made Google’s EVP blush.
Those with toes firmly dipped began to look at their marketing team with AI artificially raised eyebrows created through ‘Magic Design’ and began to create their own copy and creative candidate campaigns.
By June 2023 over 43% of all recent Marketing Graduates had registered as full time plumbers – this in turn led to a 47% growth in new electric Ford Transits. Note; This last sentence may have been made up.
Using AI rich parsing tools like ‘Parseur’ gathered pace and war weary talent teams could finally get through the 73,435 CV’s and LinkedIn profiles sent randomly by ‘cold calling’ Shotgun Stevie agency recruiter. Similar ‘word search tools’ have been around for a long time and growth is expected to reach epic speeds in 2024.
As for AI-led interviews? The idea of a deepfake AI Tadhg Furlong or Michael D Higgins conducting screenings sounds fun, and the technical capability is now with us – but thankfully as yet remains untried. Mind you, we’re watching this space from behind our Ray-Ban® Meta sunglasses with anticipation and amusement.
AI has also spiced up those cold recruitment emails, making them slightly more bearable. You know the ones…. ‘Hi Ryan. Thank you for visiting our platform – clearly as a leader in your field you know a good product when you see it….’
Has now become…
‘Hi Ryan old buddy. We know your classmates used to call you Willis at primary school so let’s go with that… so Willis after you had your Special K with a dash of blackcurrant jam this morning would you have ten minutes to chat with your new best friend over here?’
Beware, the AI spammers are getting smarter.
I guess at this stage you want some actual real data: LinkedIn’s recently released research shows 9.9% of Irish professionals switched jobs last year, outpacing the UK’s 9.3%.
The job market in Ireland remains a candidate driven market. Interestingly just 25,523 of those 200,748 moves in Ireland related to an external job posting reflecting the low level of ‘active candidates’ with the majority of moves coming from passive candidate hires (and hard search spade work) and internal promotions.
In 2023, Ireland’s tech market witnessed a staggering 1000% growth in the number of professionals – that’s not a typo, it’s tech gone wild! Amidst the global tech shake-up, with heavyweights like Twitter, Netflix, Amazon, and Meta trimming their sails, Ireland stood surprisingly steady.
The country’s bustling, high-growth local tech scene elegantly stepped in, absorbing any talent overflow. This resilience highlights Ireland’s tech sector not just as a player, but as a charismatic, fast-paced innovator in its own right.
The recruitment world is seeing a seismic shift from the old-school, no win no fee agency models to more bespoke in-house and RPO solutions. This change is picking up speed, with the Davids of the recruitment world – the smaller, nimbler agencies – steadily outpacing the Goliaths in market share. It’s becoming clear that in the recruitment arena, bigger isn’t always better. Niche RPO providers and specialist recruiters are emerging as the real champions, focusing on building relationships rather than just transactions. They’re like the Katniss Everdeens of the recruitment Hunger Games – agile, strategic, and playing the long game, aiming their arrows straight at the heart of quality over quantity.
So there you have it, recruitment anti-trends of 2023 packaged up. Let’s dance into 2024 with confidence and our best TikTok filters ready.
