As COVID-19 arrived and spiked, there was an understandable sharp decrease in the number of digital roles advertised. According to our records, a 53% decrease in the months of March, April and May 2020 compared to the same period last year.

What roles were being advertised during the lockdown?

Although there was an approximate 53% decrease in the number of live digital roles, this did not tell the whole story;

There was a noticeable lack of live Marketing, Brand and Digital Marketing roles over this period, although towards the end of May and into June, we are beginning to see more of those opportunities hit the market. On the flip-side, we saw a significant uplift in live positions within eCommerce and Product (both from a tech and marketing perspective). Understandable as online shopping boomed and many retailers closed their doors, albeit temporarily. Despite lockdown restrictions being eased however, we expect those Applicants with this core skillset to remain in high demand.

Which Sectors were hiring through the lockdown?

Not all industries were negatively impacted by the pandemic and we observed as Pharma, FMCG, Supply Chain and Logistics companies continued to recruit heavily throughout the crisis. Equally, those organisations who were able to pivot their business and drove their online business moved quickly to ramp up their Digital teams.

What can we expect next?

1. More Remote Working

For many companies, working from home will be the new norm for at least the rest of the year. Twitter have recently announced that all of their staff now have the option to work from home permanently (Irish Times). Salesforce, who employ almost 2,000 people in Ireland, have also told their staff that they have the option to work from home for the rest of 2020 (Business Insider).

This pandemic made many organisations learn to work remotely and many for the first time. An idea many thought of as ludicrous has been proven to be possible and even effective. We expect to see an increase in remote working options as well as full time remote positions. The impact on the recruitment market in general will be immense as geographic location of an office will cease to become a driver of a hiring decision or indeed prevent applicants from applying.

2. A Spike in Digital Opportunities

As the hiring freezes thaw out, we expect to see a backlog of opportunities become available as companies play catch up on their recruitment plans. This pandemic also highlighted the opportunities for an organisation online and many had to adapt their business models in order to survive. The value of digital and eCommerce roles has been illustrated and we believe that companies will place a higher value in these roles in the future.

Our commentary will hopefully provide some further insight to either support your next career move or indeed, provide context for expanding your teams. If we can help in any way, feel free to contact me at graham@connexusrecruit.com

A little bit about the data:

As a Digital Recruitment Agency, we keep our own record of the all the digital roles that are advertised across the different job (and company) sites here in Ireland. This includes anything within:

  • Marketing and Digital Marketing
  • Product
  • eCommerce
  • Creative and Design
  • Data and Analytics

Of course, some jobs may fall through the digital cracks but overall, we don’t miss much. If it’s online, we’re aware of it!