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Irish jobs growth

DUBLIN: Ireland's booming economy is creating "spectacular" growth in the number of jobs for managers, skilled maintenance and catering workers, according to a report by a leading economic think-tank on Wednesday.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) employment forecast says the greatest increase will be in jobs for sales workers and managers, where there will be a 50-percent increase for the period 1993-2005.

Only the country's traditionally-dominant agricultural sector is expected to see a fall in the number of jobs-of 22 percent.

"A general feature of the forecasts is that they predict continuing strong growth for service-related activities generally, and a slower rate of expansion for occupations associated with manufacturing, building and construction," the report finds.

Ireland's buoyant economy has been creating record number of jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in March-the lowest for 18 years. The study predicts the number of women working in the economy will increase to 41 percent in 2005-up from 34 percent in 1991.

Meanwhile, many women are breaking through the so-called "glass ceiling", with the most significant increase in women workers will be in the management category. There the number will almost surge from 13 percent in 1981 to 34 percent in 2005.

However, the projections indicate that most jobs being taken by women are in the clerical or personal services area.

While not expanding rapidly in percentage terms, the number of professional workers and clerical workers will have the largest numerical increase - respectively 53,000 and 37,000 higher.

People involved in sales, personal service and clerical work account for one-third of the total employment increase. AFP