National Survey of Vacancies in the Private (Non ... - Forfás

9.6
Regional Trends
MAIN FINDINGS 75
The final issues considered in the report were related to regional
variations in aspects of the incidence, rate and nature of vacancies as
between Dublin, the remainder of the Southern and Eastern Region, and
the Border, Midlands and Western Region.
We found that the percentage of firms in Dublin which were
experiencing a vacancy (25 per cent) was 3 percentage points higher than
in the Border, Midlands and Western region and 7 percentage points
higher than in the Southern and Eastern region. The Hi-Tech.
Manufacturing sector stood out as being substantially differentiated in
terms of regional variations. As many as 40 per cent of firms in that sector
in the Southern and Eastern region recorded that they had experienced
vacancies compared with 37 per cent of firms in the Dublin region and 30
per cent in the Border, Midlands and Western region.
In terms of changes in regional trends in the incidence of vacancies
over the two surveys (1999/00 and 2001/02), we found that, in aggregate
terms, the incidence of vacancies between Dublin and the Rest of the
Country had widened somewhat over the period. The figures suggest that
the upswing in demand for labour between 1998/99 and 1999/00
occurred initially in the Dublin region while the slow down in demand
between 1999/00 and 2001/02 was initially felt in regions outside Dublin.
In the second survey the incidence of vacancies among firms in Dublin
was 21 per cent higher than among firms in the Rest of the Country. By
the third round of the survey the figure for Dublin was 28 per cent higher
than that for the Rest of the Country. In general, this widening of the gap
between Dublin and the Rest of the Country, in terms of the incidence of
vacancies, affected all sectors except for Construction and Transport/
Personal/Other services.
Finally, we considered regional trends in difficulties in retaining
existing staff. These showed that, with the exception of the Hi-Tech.
Manufacturing and Construction sectors, difficulties in retaining existing
staff are currently being experienced by more firms in the Border,
Midlands and Western, and Southern and Eastern regions than in the
Dublin region. This is reflected at an aggregate level across most sectors
in terms of a comparison between Dublin and the Rest of the Country. In
the 1999/00 round of the survey the incidence rate in Dublin was 43 per
cent higher than that experienced in the Rest of the Country. By the
2001/02 survey the rate in Dublin was 8 per cent less than that
experienced in the Rest of the Country. There was also some evidence to
suggest that a higher percentage of firms which were located in the Rest
of the Country were mentioning professional occupations as posing
difficulties in terms of staff retention than firms in the Dublin region. In
contrast, a higher percentage of firms located elsewhere in the Dublin
region mentioned Computer Specialists and Clerical workers.