Nearly half of Irish jobseekers would refuse a job offer if there were no hybrid or fully remote working options offered, according to new research from The Stepstone Group, the parent company of jobs website IrishJobs.
This compares to a global average of 29%.
The study found that 61% of jobseekers would turn down an otherwise attractive job offer from an employer if they received a negative impression during an interview.
Almost one in five jobseekers would refuse a job offer from an employer that did not have environmental or sustainability initiatives in place, while 30% would not accept a job offer from an employer that did not offer mental health or wellbeing benefits.
A good work-life balance was the top job preference among Irish professionals, unchanged since the last report was published in 2021.
Financial compensation, job security, and the amount of paid time off or holidays were the other most important work preferences in Ireland.
Financial compensation has increased by six places since the last survey, indicating the impact of the increased cost of living on the workforce over the past number of years.
“The Irish economy continues to expand, albeit at a more moderate pace, with the rate of unemployment remaining at a record low of 4%,” Sam Dooley, Country Director of The Stepstone Group Ireland, said.
“Against this backdrop of near full employment, there continues to be significant competition among employers to attract and retain skilled talent,” he said.
Mr Dooley said that “insights from our latest Decoding Global Talent 2024 report, published today, provide an important insight for employers into the changing needs and preferences of professionals as they seek to meet their talent needs in this competitive environment”.
Published in partnership with Boston Consulting Group and The Network, a global alliance of more than 70 leading recruitment websites, the new report titled How Work Preferences Are Shifting in the Age of GenAI, is based on survey data from more than 150,000 workforce respondents from 188 countries, including 1,746 respondents in Ireland.
It is also the fourth instalment in a series, the previous editions having been published in 2014, 2018 and 2021.