There has been considerable movement on jobs in Northern Ireland despite the Brexit turbulence, according to the Brightwater 2020 Salary Survey.

Cathal O Donnell, Regional Director, Brightwater in Northern Ireland says: “Notwithstanding the uncertainties stemming from the ongoing Brexit situation, the NI jobs market remains dynamic, particularly within the manufacturing and transport sectors with a few notable companies undergoing closures, restructuring and redundancies. Ironically, despite overall contraction in jobs numbers, employers in manufacturing and some services, say they are experiencing a key skills shortage.

“As in 2019, 2020 will see a rise in salaries across some sectors such as accountancy, IT and some areas of engineering but in certain areas of IT and manufacturing where there is a considerable shortage of talent, we have seen some salary increases up to 8%. However, counteroffers are prevalent especially in niche areas like cyber security, QS and audit and are skewing perceptions of market rate salaries.

“As consumer tastes are changing, higher numbers of students are undertaking highly innovative and creative courses at Loughry & Cafre College to learn about new product development, the origin of food and its environmental impacts. These highly qualified professionals are now driving the Northern Ireland food industry forward with a passion that has not been seen for some time showing the positive impact regional colleges can have working in partnership with local industry.

“The transport industry is now recruiting customs specialists and finding these candidates when there is a generation who never needed to know about such regulations is proving very difficult.”

This year’s Brightwater 2020 Salary Survey includes an economic overview by economist Maureen O’Reilly who says: “

“The Northern Ireland labour market has continued to perform well in 2019 against the backdrop of relatively subdued economic growth driven in large part by Brexit uncertainty but also other considerations including the lack of a functioning Assembly in the region.

“Some 878,000 people are in work, the highest rate on record (72%) and unemployment is at an all-time low of 2.5%. Private sector wage growth has picked up with an average increase of 3.4% over the year. There remain some key labour market challenges (lower labour market participation, higher reliance on public sector jobs) but the overall shape of the labour market in Northern Ireland at present is sound.”

Brexit driving new demand for customs specialists, a niche role driven by Brexit planning
Ongoing skills shortages driving highest pay rises of up to 10% within specific roles such as automation engineers and supply chain, warehouse and transport managers.
Salary rises of between 3%-5% are expected in accountancy, finance, IT and most jobs in engineering and supply chain logistics.
Recruitment freeze in 70% of supply chain and logistics businesses pending clarity around Brexit.
Counter offers prevalent in legal as well as niche areas such as cyber security, QS and audit.
Flat or minimal increases in HR, sales & marketing and business support sectors.
Solid growth in food manufacturing as steady stream of qualified graduates from Loughry and Cafre College are driving innovation and creativity in local food industry.
Food industry now employing Brexperts
Flexible working and remote working becoming an expected norm in many sectors.

Sector highlights from Brightwater Salary Survey 2020

Engineering – Increased levels of automation are fast becoming a major part of manufacturing in Northern Ireland leading to a high demand for automation engineers. Brexit uncertainty had an impact on recruitment in 2019 with less jobs on the market due to processes being streamlined to reduce costs. It is expected growth will remain slow in this sector until the latter part of 2020. Investment in staff training is big news in this sector, with upskilling courses and flexible working hours to the forefront of employee demands including greater annual leave requests.

Supply Chain & Logistics – As the National Living Wage has increased, those working long hours in minimal wage jobs were found to be making just as much money as middle management candidates and this is driving pay rises in this sector particularly in supply chain management up by 10%, warehouse/transport management up 10% and supply chain planning up 5%. As there is a skills shortage in NI, future employers have had to increase their offering much more in the way of further training and added benefits such as bonuses, share initiatives and softer benefits to attract much needed talent or retain their skilled staff. There has been a recruitment freeze in 70% of businesses in these industries pending clarity around Brexit.

Food manufacturing is enjoying solid growth with strong competition for tenders for major contracts such as Lidl, Aldi, M&S and Tesco ranges. Expectation that the food industry will remain strong as logistics and distribution companies are all currently working towards being ‘Brexit ready’ and employing ‘Brexperts’.

Accountancy – Increase in demand for insolvency professionals as some firms struggle with Brexit impact. However, ‘the Big 4 Firms’ are committed to hiring high volumes of new staff throughout 2020 and the 4.5 day week is becoming more popular in this sector.

Legal – While this sector has changed radically in NI in the last 10 years, it slowed in the last year but 2020 is expected to be very dynamic. 2% to 6% salary increases in conveyancing, corporate and litigations are expected next year. Counteroffers are making a reappearance in the legal sector with firms showing determination to keep key individuals and this is skewing salaries.

Human Resources – Salaries are expected to remain relatively stable in 2020, increases are mainly seen in the areas of learning and development and employee relations of between 2% to 5% with minimal increases in other areas of 1% to 3%. Brexit has had a major impact on HR with companies either forced to take on more staff, redeploy resources, provide upskilling or carry out redundancies depending on the sector. Brightwater predicts that once the dust settles, there will be a rise in demand for skilled HR professionals due to changes in policies, procedures and recruitment processes.

Sales and Marketing – Salaries have somewhat stagnated in both marketing and sales roles due to political and economic uncertainties. Digital marketing skills are now seen as a necessity rather than a niche skill. Areas such as flexible working, working from home and healthcare plans are now having equal importance along with salary, but many businesses still do not recognise the importance of this and are losing staff and future employees to competitors who offer such rewards.

Business support and office administration – No dramatic increase for 2020 with any rises expected to be between 1% and 5%, with the higher end tending to focus on more niche legal secretarial positions. On the flip side, employers are making great efforts to retain key members of their administration team by investing in training and offering benefits such as flexi-time and parking.

Cathal O Donnell, Regional Director at Brightwater in Northern Ireland concludes: “There is no question that the employers winning ‘the war for talent’ are companies that are very much mindful of their employee experience and culturally supportive environment. Northern Ireland is still a tight candidate market, so employers need to focus on the remuneration package as a whole and softer benefits continue to play a key role in attracting and retaining staff. Employee healthcare and pensions are now a very standard part of what’s expected along with flexible working the norm rather than a unique selling point. This presents a real opportunity for smaller companies who can often offer much more flexibility in this area than bigger organisations.

“However, in the manufacturing and supply chain sectors, flexible working isn’t necessarily compatible with operational requirements and employers have to be cognisant of that fact and consider other options such as ‘wellness’ options and clear support for employees in charitable endeavours and educational requirements.”

Brightwater has offices in Belfast, Dublin and Cork employing 95 people. It celebrates its 21st year in business this year.

The annual Brightwater research report is based on data taken from approximately 1400 respondents, including employers and candidates across a range of sectors as well as data taken from job placements and is undertaken by Brightwater throughout the year.

The full Brightwater Salary Survey 2020 can be downloaded here https://www.brightwaterni.com/salary-survey