The role of sport in helping solve global crisis – guest post by John A. Davis

Poverty. Homelessness. War. Pandemics. Social injustice. Economic inequality. Gun violence. Climate change. Gender violence. These are substantial problems lacking easy solutions. Should sports get involved in major crises? Yes. Why? Because sport has a powerful hold over our emotions, imagination, hopes, and dreams.

Sport also has an enormous capacity to rally fans, bring people together, and inspire a sense of shared purpose. It confers bragging rights on those that prevail and while the heartbreak of loss is painful, it inspires athletes to learn and do better next time.

The role of sport in helping solve global crisis

Poor performance rarely discourages fans from continuing their support; they recover from disappointment, looking toward the next season when their team’s fortunes might change for the better. Countries invest significant resources in developing national capabilities to compete with international competitors. But can sport alone solve a major crisis? Unlikely.

Sport and Global Crisis

But even if a sport’s contribution does not directly resolve intractable problems it indirectly raises awareness and provokes discussion. Athletes and clubs may well draw the ire of some fans, media, and politicians because they support a given crisis, but so be it. Sport has a visible platform and, at its core, represents values that are vitally important and helpful to supporting a better society.

The 2018 Nelson Mandela Peace Summit adopted a political declaration that describes the role sport plays in the world,

“Sports and the arts, in particular, have the power to change perceptions, prejudices and behaviours, as well as to inspire people, break down racial and political barriers, combat discrimination and defuse conflict.”

At its best, sport promotes positive values, including health, social understanding, entertainment, and responsibility at both the individual and team levels. Sport elevates awareness of challenges and crises, despite occasional inconsistent role modelling such as occurred with professional athletes over vaccines for Covid-19. Tennis, basketball, soccer, and baseball all saw a handful of athletes that refused vaccinations.

While their protests usually led to their suspension, the accompanying media coverage helped keep the pandemic at the forefront of the public’s mind, especially as the evidence mounted about the overwhelming benefits the vaccines had in reducing the chances of severe illness and death.

I gave a speech at the recent Global Soft Power Summit in London on the role of sport in today’s world. At the time Russia’s horrifying invasion of Ukraine was 3 weeks old, and many of the world’s sports bodies banned Russia and Russian athletes from global competitions. We are now more than 3 months into that crisis and Russia has failed so far in its attempts to take over Ukraine. That’s not due to sport, per se, especially since the war rages on in the eastern part of Ukraine.

But sport is an important societal actor working in concert with governments and businesses to have a united front against Russia’s illegal aggression. As difficult as the decisions the world’s sports bodies have been on Russian athletes, the symbolic power of this coordinated effort is important if we are to build a society based on decency, respect for human life, and the rule of law.

Sport Vital Role in Major Crises

In the summer of 2016, NFL player Colin Kaepernick made a series of protests during the national anthem before game time over police brutality and social injustice. He was booed by some fans and the NFL struggled in its response.

But President Obama expressed support for Kaepernick’s actions, saying “he cares about some real, legitimate issues that have to be talked about.” Unfortunately, just a few months later during the 2017 NFL season, there was a new US President who made incendiary statements against Kaepernick and protesters i...

New independent research exposes sustainability action gap in the data centre and IT industries

Schneider Electric Prepares IT Infrastructure for Net Zero

Schneider Electric has released three independent research studies to better understand the maturity of sustainability initiatives within IT and data centre organisations, and more specifically, where the IT and data centre industry stand in achieving this vision of net-zero IT operations.

451 Research, Forrester and Canalys independently collected data from more than 3,000 global participants, include the largest colocation and cloud providers, IT solution providers and IT professionals across many segments and organisation sizes. Overall, findings consistently demonstrate that across the data centre and IT industry, there is discrepancy between where companies think they are and implementing full lifecycle sustainability programs across their IT infrastructure.

According to the 451 Research findings, in surveying 1,100 IT professionals responsible for core and distributed IT, whereas 26% of participants self-identified as having a full lifecycle sustainability program covering all the infrastructure, only 14% are taking the actions to have implemented the programs. The analysis further identifies 22% as not addressing sustainability as a major focus, though may have efficiency initiatives to improve specific areas of operations.

“Data centres play a critical role in driving Electricity 4.0 which we believe is the key to changing the trajectory of climate change. As an industry, we have a responsibility to drive forward our environmental commitments with extreme urgency. We’ve made some progress but to avoid a major energy challenge, all data centres – including distributed edge data centres — must be more sustainable, efficient, adaptive, and resilient,” says Pankaj Sharma, Executive Vice President, Secure Power Division at Schneider Electric.

“The research is clear – the industry knows sustainability needs to be prioritised but challenges still exist to taking action and will take a collaborative effort to overcome. The good news is the technology to take action in sustainability exists today. Now is the time to act.”

In addition to releasing these research studies, Schneider Electric made several new announcements live from its global headquarters in Paris, all of which are designed to help data centre and IT professionals make progress towards their sustainability goals.

Updated IT Partner Program to help partners to grow their businesses

Building on the company’s award-winning channel history, Schneider Electric’s updated IT Partner Program helps partners to grow and differentiate their business for the long-term. The new evolution of its partner program supports IT channel partners with a simplified program structure and diverse specialisations for key sectors including data centres, IT solutions, software, and services with a new range of sales tools, training and enablement resources.

Further, it includes new benefits aligned with each of its specialisation paths and offers a clear sustainability strategy for partners via Schneider Electric Green Premium™ solutions, which offer sustainable performance and circularity by design. Partners can become strategic advisors and experts in their market across multiple IT competencies by enabling the development of diverse business models, simplifying and increasing transparency for requirements and benefits and strengthening channel-centric practice.

Research conducted by Canalys found that the number of IT Resellers in the European Market is beginning to stabilise after 4-5 years of consolidation. However, most partners across the region are operating with multiple business types and need vendor partner programs to be more flexible and reflective of the market trends. The survey found 65% of partners wanted to strengthen their relationship with vendors, while 60% wanted to improve profitability and sales, and 50% wanted ...

Cyber Resilience of the ‘Digital Classroom’ guest post by Colin Gaughan. Colin is a Data Protection Specialist at Dell Technologies

Over the last two years, we have seen a marked change in how students and teachers have embraced technology within our education system. Although ICT (information and communications technologies) in education had been a growing focus of Government and those within the education sector, the events of recent times have greatly accelerated this transition and opened up a whole new range of possibilities for the ‘digital classroom’.

Technology in the classroom

Today, over two years into what has been an unprecedented few months, teachers and students are through the steep learning curve that accompanied the sudden widespread integration of technology within education. At Dell Technologies, we were pleased to be able to support the sector during those difficult early few months by teaming up with HEAnet, Ireland’s national education and research network, to deliver 16,700 Dell laptops to students throughout Ireland. Now, as we emerge from the pandemic, educators are in a better position of being able to reflect on the gains that technology has brought while keeping one eye on the future of the digital classroom.

Already, we are seeing the long-term impact of educators embracing technology in the number of schools and third-level institutions that are modelling what has become known as ‘blended learning’. For example, despite the full lifting of public health restrictions earlier this year, many third-level institutions are continuing to conduct seminars online with recorded lectures also available for those unable to attend in person.

Meanwhile, Government is clearly set on building on the progress of the last two years with the publication of the Digital Strategy for Schools to 2027, a strategy that will advance the use of digital technologies across teaching, learning and assessment, helping to create more resilient, accessible and interactive learning systems that bring complex educational topics to life, appeal to different learning styles and help boost research and innovation within the classroom.

The importance of cyber-resilience

However, as we embrace this exciting new era of technology in the classroom, it’s vital that we keep cyber resilience at the heart of efforts to accelerate the digital transformation of our education system. Cyberattacks occur every 11 seconds and cost the Irish economy €9.6 billion in 2020 alone. That’s why, with greater use of technology leading to an increased dependence on data, cyberattacks can be catastrophic for virtually connected classrooms around the country.

A recent survey undertaken by the Executive Institute on behalf of Dell Technologies lays out the scope of the challenge. While a vast majority of businesses surveyed (91%) took steps to enhance data protection in the past 12 months, 69% of leaders believe that hybrid or ‘blended’ working arrangements will increase the chances of a cyberattack or incident. Meanwhile, a majority (57%) say they don’t know how to react in the event of a ransomware attack.

Thankfully, just as cyber threats are always evolving, so too are cyber technologies and cyber strategies always advancing to keep pace with cybercriminals.

By harnessing the latest in cyber-protection technology solutions, the education sector can increase its chances of warding off or recovering quickly from a potential cyber-attack that could target one of our most prized assets – student data.

One recent innovation from Dell Technologies in this space comes in the form of the cyber vault. A cyber vault delivers a fast, easy-to-deploy public cloud vault that moves critical data away from the attack and isolates it within a secure, automated operational air gap. Harnessing a vault solution can be a building block for cyber resilience in this critical era of digital transformation to make the transition to the digital classroom a success and maintain t...

As part of its ongoing 1,2,3 Online Safety Campaign, the Children’s Rights Alliance hosted a high-profile briefing and political panel discussion focused on children and young people’s safety and wellbeing online. The event was chaired by former Senator Jillian van Turnhout and heard by representatives from political parties; Deputy Peadar Tóibín (Aontú), Senator Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fáil), Senator Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael), Senator Pauline O’Reilly (Green Party), Deputy Ivana Bacik (Labour) and Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Sinn Féin).

Speaking at the event, Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance said, “Those paying attention to the digital space will know that we are on the cusp of a global movement to regulate big tech and online service providers. There is landmark legislation coming at the European level, and there is momentum building in the US and Australia and Fiji are even further ahead with well-established Online Safety Commissioners.

In Ireland, we have waited for over a decade for the opportunity this Government has now – to ensure online platforms and big tech companies based here are responsible and held accountable for providing for the online safety of those that engage with their services. Our primary concern is for children and young people who we know are online in greater numbers than ever before. These platforms have a responsibility to ensure safety by design.”

Speaking on the political panel, representatives from seven political parties outlined their priorities to ensure a safer online experience for children and young people.

On Regulation, Deputy Ivana Bacik (Labour Party) said: “There has been so much statutory reform around sexual offenses [and] offenses against children in recent years and yet we are still waiting for the full array of legislation needed to tackle online safety. What we are lacking [are] the civil law remedies and that is where the Online Safety Media Regulation Bill will provide such an important part of the package of measures necessary to ensure children are safe online.”

Senator Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fáil) said: “We need to look at the range of challenges. What we need is a culture change on the part of some of the social media platforms themselves. It does come back to the design of algorithms. We need to get in at a very early stage. We need to get companies thinking, are we going to put online safety as our first agenda?”

On education, Senator Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) said: “I think [online safety] needs to be part of the curriculum in our schools, that every child is informed. At the minute, it is very ad hoc.[.] Social and media companies have made substantial multi-billion-euro profits, the least they can do, is put money forward for [online safety] through our education system.”

Deputy Peadar Tóibín (Aontú) said:“ I believe it needs to be part of the curriculum. We need to be teaching about online safety. We need to teach about knowledge and behaviors, harms and risks, and teach people how to navigate the information they consume and how to stay safe online – and at the end of its well-being. Because at the end of it, when you add all these aspects up you have someone’s wellbeing, or not.”

On complaints, Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Sinn Féin) said: “Online safety is perhaps the biggest children’s welfare issue of our day. It is enormous in its breadth and its complexity and its potential impact. It’s something schools, parents and children are struggling to navigate as it’s constantly evolving and changing [and] we are way behind in terms of regulation. The need for the individual complaint mechanism is crucial.”

Senator Pauline O’Reilly (Green Party) said: “If Minister Martin can legally and practically set up an individual complaints mechanism, that’s what she has committed to doing. As an obligation to our young people, we must take this legislation seriously. This is seen as a first step and there are a lot of countries looking at I...

Gas Networks Ireland does not envisage any disruption to gas supply during the summer months according to the network operator’s 2022 Summer Outlook. Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, it is expected that restrictions on the import of Russian gas to the EU will not significantly impact on gas supply to Ireland.

Ireland’s gas supply will be met by indigenous supply from the Corrib gas field and via the interconnection with the UK, which is sourced from UK indigenous sources and Norway. Furthermore, earlier last month, the UK’s storage facilities were 79% full, a historical record high for the season. Gas Networks Ireland’s Future Networks Manager, Maurice Power, said

“Consideration was given to the invasion of Ukraine and energy security concerns regarding the supply of Russian gas to Europe. “Based on the assessment of all supply sources to Ireland and anticipated demand levels, it is not envisaged that there will be a disruption to Ireland’s gas supply during the summer months”

He further added, “Our interconnector with the UK is set to continue as the dominant supply source for Ireland, with Corrib anticipated to operate at its forecasted capacity during the summer period.

Gas demand is forecast to be slightly lower over the coming summer period compared to the previous year, due to several factors including the current high wholesale gas prices. We have continuous communication channels in place with key regulatory and upstream stakeholders in relation to maintaining the security of supply.”

“In line with previous years, it is anticipated that gas demand for heating in homes and businesses will decrease as temperatures rise, while demand for gas-fired electricity generation will increase as wind levels drop.”

“Gas-fired power generation continues to play a key role in complimenting the intermittent nature of wind generation,” said Mr Power.

“Last summer gas accounted for up to 69% of daily electricity generation. In April we already started to see gas’s share of the electricity mix rise, with a daily peak of 80% and closing the month at 52% of Ireland’s electricity generation. This trend is expected to continue through summer 2022.”

Gas Network Ireland’s summer outlook assesses the adequacy of the gas network to meet forecasted gas demand for the summer ahead and is published annually to inform the energy industry of any developments on the gas network for this period.

“While operating and maintaining the network, we are also focused on helping Ireland meet its climate action targets with least disruption and at lower cost,” said Mr Power.

By replacing natural gas with indigenously produced renewable gases, such as biomethane made from farm and food waste and hydrogen made from renewable electricity, we can significantly reduce emissions in several key sectors while further enhancing Ireland’s energy security and diversity.”

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Thanks to a new pilot developed by Engineers Ireland’s STEPS programme, transition Year students in Kerry have been given the opportunity to experience a new apprentice-style programme with Liebherr Container Cranes Ltd.

The STEPS Engineering Your Future Apprenticeship pilot provides Transition Year students with the opportunity to gain an insight into apprenticeships and receive guidance from working and qualified apprentices at leading organisations. In this first year of the pilot programme, Liebherr Container Cranes in Killarney has joined Combilift in Monaghan to host students on a custom apprenticeship work experience programme.

Engineers Ireland’s STEPS Programme

Twelve students attended the two-day work experience placement at Liebherr Container Cranes where they gained hands-on, practical experience, led by the organisation’s engineering talent. Students were provided with a tour of the Killarney site, including an automated container crane demonstration and got to experience the daily lives of Liebherr apprentices by attending mechanical and electrical engineering apprentice workshops. Students also visited MTU Tralee for a tour and presentation on the Higher Certificate in Engineering Technology, which all Liebherr apprentices complete during their four-year apprenticeship.

Mr Charlie McCarthy, Managing Director – Engineering at Liebherr Container Cranes, said: “At Liebherr, we are proud of our best-in-class apprenticeship programme and the talented engineers that it has developed. Our Apprentice Programme, set up in 1959, is a blend of theoretical and on-the-job learning. We were delighted to elcome local Transition Year students to gain an insight into our organisation and the limitless opportunities our engineering apprenticeships offer.

We have apprentice graduates working in many different roles at Liebherr. I started my own career with Liebherr by completing an apprenticeship here in Killarney. It is our hope that this short work placement may inspire a number of today’s students to actively consider a future career in engineering and an apprenticeship with Liebherr Cranes.”

Dr. Edmond Harty, Vice President of Engineers Ireland, added: “We are pleased to partner with Liebherr Container Cranes and Combilift to pilot the STEPS Engineering Your Future Apprenticeship programme. These innovative and forward-thinking companies are investing in their people of the future by providing Transition Year students with an opportunity to gain some insight into apprenticeship opportunities in their locality.

“Engineering apprentices play an important role in sustaining Ireland’s talented engineering sector, and I hope that each Transition Year student who joined Liebherr’s programme as part of this pilot was inspired by those they met. Apprenticeships offer a real opportunity to develop professional and technical skills and I hope that many of today’s Transition Year students will consider an engineering apprenticeship in the future,” Dr Harty continued.

The STEPS Engineering Your Future Apprenticeship pilot is co-ordinated by Engineers Ireland’s STEPS programme – funded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and industry leaders Arup, the EPA, ESB, Intel and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

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As decision-makers and business leaders meet for Stockholm+50, the Exponential Roadmap Initiative will shine a light on the game-changers in energy efficiency, green energy, travel & transport, plant-based food, regenerative agriculture, protecting & restoring nature and maximizing positive impacts from digitalization.

“We need to halve global emissions by 2030 and become nature positive at the same time to tackle the climate emergency. We have the answers in our hands – we just need sharper action. The solutions to halve emissions by 2030 exist in all sectors and many are scaling exponentially. This is the moment to scale even faster and make a pull-in. The companies that realize that today are the winners of tomorrow”, says Johan Falk, founder of Exponential Roadmap Initiative.

Stockholm+50

This week, as governments meet for the UN’s Stockholm+50 conference, a consortium of the leading transformers and disruptors, all aligned with the 1.5°C ambition, are joining forces to accelerate action to zero-emission and circular value chains.

“The good news is that climate action and demand for green energy are rising exponentially. But it is not sufficient, I hope S+50 will spur action towards a the breakthrough tipping point to exit the fossil energy crisis and towards a net-zero emissions world”, says Nigel Topping, High-Level Champion of United Kingdom, UN.

“We are seeing huge momentum from businesses taking action to cut their emissions and calling on governments to support them to go further and faster. We have the solutions across energy and nature to halve global emissions by 2030. I hope S+50 can inspire businesses of all sizes and sectors – in collaboration with governments – to accelerate the scale-up of these solutions at pace and leave no community behind”, says María Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition.

Within the Stockholm+50 Climate Hub, the Exponential Race to Zero events, hosted by We Don’t Have Time, Exponential Roadmap Initiative, United Nations Race to Zero and We Mean Business Coalition, will showcase examples of leading innovative, disruptive and transformative companies taking climate action in line with science.

The Exponential Race to Zero will be spread across four days, focusing on: Green Energy, Transport, Food & Land as well as digitalization- at the Exponential Climate Action Summit VI- Maximizing impact with digitalization hosted by We Don’t Have Time, Ericsson and Exponential Roadmap Initiative.

“We Don’t Have Time gathers leaders from around the world to share climate solutions and thereby speed our necessary transition from a fossil to a renewable economy. We hope our daily Stockholm+50 broadcasts reaching millions will inspire leaders within all sectors to act faster while we still have time”, says Ingmar Renzhog, Founder We Don’t Have Time.

Time to Go Green

The series of events will focus on the game-changers in energy efficiency, green energy, travel & transport, plant-based food, regenerative agriculture, protection & restoring nature and maximizing positive impacts from digitalization. Through these events, we will identify concrete actions to remove the blockers to enable scaling up faster and further to COP27. It is a step up on an exponential journey. We are witnessing the start of the Green Energy revolution.

It is time to go all-in on green energy and energy efficiency to simultaneously exit the fossil energy crisis, meet national and international climate goals, as well as benefit the natural world. Smart energy efficiency solutions can cut emissions in 10 million factories from today. Electrification through wind, solar, storage, hydrogen, and e-fuels, supported by digitalization can take us to a world that runs entirely on renewable energy, much faster than we think.

In Transport, solutions exist now and around the corner to cut transport emissions by 50-90% before 2030, supporting net-zero goals. We need to move to the next generation Food & Land value chains by 2030. Th...

A research report on Thursday on barriers to retrofitting in Ireland reveals that current policy measures are not sufficient to meet the needs of certain groups.

The report, published by Friends of the Earth, also suggests that the worsening energy price crisis heightens the risk of energy poverty due to dependence on fossil fuel heating.

The report was informed by interviews with experts in energy poverty and energy efficiency. It provides an overview of the challenges faced by Irish households, policymakers, and government bodies in achieving Ireland’s retrofit and heat pump targets and notes a range of solutions identified by experts.

Clare O’Connor, Energy Policy Officer at Friends of the Earth and author of the report, said:

“Ireland’s housing stock remains some of Europe’s most inefficient, leaving many of us with high energy bills and vulnerable to shocks like the current energy crisis. Despite some positive announcements from the Government in their new retrofit scheme, this report shows that there are still major barriers to achieving their target of retrofitting half a million homes by 2030.

“Experts highlighted a range of barriers that often limit access to retrofitting for particular groups. Current SEAI grants are not sufficiently accessible for tenants, low-income households, the Traveller community, or those living in older homes.

“It is not surprising that high upfront costs act as a barrier, however it is notable that a number of experts pointed to a lack of trust in the process of retrofitting, and low awareness of the benefits. Relevant Departments, the SEAI and local authorities must urgently respond to these barriers in order to get Irish households off polluting, expensive fossil fuel heating, particularly oil and gas. In doing so, Irish households could begin to see the benefits of climate action through warmer homes, lower energy bills, and new jobs.”

O’Connor also highlighted potential solutions in the report:

“Although barriers are significant, experts put forward a range of solutions. A focus on retrofitting of social and local authority housing and the introduction of local community energy advisors must be prioritised this year. The SEAI Warmer Home scheme also must be expanded particularly in response to the energy price crisis.

“There is a need for tailored supports and protections for retrofitting of the private rental sector. The Government must also live up to long-standing commitments and produce an updated Energy Poverty Strategy to ensure the energy transition does not leave our most vulnerable households out in the cold.”

Key findings of the report

Policy design & finance options are not sufficiently tailored to the needs of certain groups including low-income households, tenants, rural dwellers, and the Traveller community.

Key barriers for households include high upfront costs, a lack of trust in the process of retrofitting, and low awareness of the benefits.

A low standard of rental housing, a lack of tailored finance options for landlords to retrofit, and no clarity on tenant protection from “renovictions” leave the private rental sector excluded from retrofitting benefits.

The Government has continued to fail to produce an updated Energy Poverty Strategy, leaving questions around whether homes most at-risk of energy poverty are being sufficiently identified and targeted in Government retrofit schemes.

There is a shortage of skilled labour and materials available to undertake retrofitting works.

Recommendations to overcome retrofitting barriers

The eligibility criteria for the SEAI’s Warmer Homes scheme for 100% grants should be expanded to include tenants who receive Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

Local Community Energy Advisors should be introduced by the SEAI across all counties/local authorities to increase awareness amongst hard-to-reach energy users.

The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications should immediately produce a new energy poverty strategy.

...

The Dublin Independent Film Festival 2021 is now going to be held online in collaboration with ENDAVO.

“After some difficult months, we have taken the tough decision to move the 2021 edition of the festival online for the safety of all of us,” said organisers in a media release.

Dublin Independent Film Festival aims to screen a high-quality programme of indie films from all over the world and to create a venue for filmmakers and audiences to connect.

The Festival’s goal is to discover new talent, films and filmmakers with potential, and to recognise the collaborative work this artform is funded on.

In this edition, organisers will present a selection of 12 outstanding films from well-crafted animation, to surreal dramas, light documentaries and odd comedies; films that can make the audience reflect, feel and connect.

Dublin Independent Film Festival: Time and place

All films will be available from June 17, 00:00 (GMT+1) until June 19, 23:59 (GMT+1) on the website: http://dublinindependentff.ottchannel.com. The link will be active only during the dates and times of the online festival.

All films will be free to watch and available in English or with English subtitles.

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The main unemployment rate was 4.7% in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, down from 4.8% in April and down from a level of 6.9% twelve months ago. The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed fell by 2,400 in May and fell by 46,700in the past 12 months.

Jack Kennedy, an economist at global job site Indeed, comments on the latest CSO data: “The rate of unemployment fell in May to 4.7%, with fears about the rising cost of living and the economic impact of the war in Ukraine failing to dent the positive employment trend.

The recently published Q1 Labour Force Survey from the CSO tells a story of sustained employment growth, with 275,200 more people employed in Ireland compared to a year ago.

Employment trends are still positive, but Indeed’s data shows that employers hiring demands have eased in recent weeks as downside risks to the economy have grown. Notably, the inflow of new job postings has slowed. But employers are still actively hiring, with the level of Irish job postings on Indeed up 57% on 27 May 2022, compared to 1 February 2020.

While recruitment pressure in some job categories has eased, the inflationary backdrop and skills shortage in some areas means employers in categories like tech, pharma, and engineering will still be facing challenges in finding suitable candidates.

The high rate of price inflation has prompted fears of a ‘wage-price spiral’, but Indeed data to date shows wage growth continuing to lag well behind inflation. Analysis of advertised wages in job postings in April points to wage growth of 3.6% year on year, although a handful of occupations are seeing faster wage growth: food service (6.3%) and sales (5.8%).”

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Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at [email protected] now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience.

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