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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
That dynamic shifted throughout 2023 and continued in 2024. Most notably, we have seen high profile announcements like Amazon bringing their staff back five days a week since January 2025. Another reason is that the gloss of remote working wore off as employers started to see company culture and collaboration suffering from remote working, as well as increased isolation.
During 2022 and 2023, many employers hesitated to bring employees back to the office, uncertain about the best way to structure the workspace and maximize productivity. It felt like navigating in the dark, with companies cautiously testing the waters, unsure of the right approach and wary of making missteps.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
As we near the end of 2024, the recruitment industry is reflecting a wider economic sentiment of caution and uncertainty. Ultimately, there are a number of factors that are making employers very careful about hiring and growth. In this blog I will outline some of the key factors right now that are causing this. I will focus on the tech sector specifically, as this is where GemPool plays. But many of the factors outlined will apply across the entire economy of Ireland.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
At GemPool, we spend all day talking to candidates about their salary expectations, but also the benefits they currently have. It’s not always the salary that is the most important aspect of the remuneration package. All parts of a benefits package have the ability to sway a candidate to accept an offer, and also retain existing employees. There are many factors that impact the decision to take one job offer over another, but the package is a very important one. In this blog, I will reflect on the tech market in Ireland in the context of benefits packages and focus on what candidates are looking for in 2024.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
It’s now June 2024. We are halfway through the year and the tech talent market continues to evolve and change. Recruitment across the sector has changed incredibly over the last two years and 2024 is no exception. In this blog I will try to assess the market right now. As a tech recruitment agency in Ireland, GemPool is at the coalface of the talent market. This gives us a unique perspective that, I think, is worth sharing here.
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by Michael Lantry
Job Interview Preparation
As professional recruiters in GemPool, we are tasked with going out to the market and headhunting relevant talent for our clients. When we take on a role, we spend time qualifying the role with our clients. We ask questions about the technical skills required and other ‘must-haves’, the interview process, the salary on offer etc. These are clearly defined and factual. But there is one part of this conversation which is much harder to define. This revolves around understanding the kind of candidate that would be a strong culture fit.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Whenever you listen to anyone talking about the world we live in right now, you often hear the word ‘unpredictable’ used. Our world is described as one that is constantly changing. This really does feel true. As we kick off 2024, and in the context of the tech talent market in Ireland, what can we expect to see? What changes are coming and what trends are emerging that we need to take note of? In this blog, I will attempt to capture some of these trends and changes.
So what should we expect to see becoming more prevalent in 2024, from a tech talent perspective. Well let’s look at a couple of the macro factors first.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Fundamentally, our clients pay us recruitment fee’s to find them talent. If they could do it themselves, there would not be a need for recruitment agencies. But our industry is still worth over €4 billion in 2023 in Ireland alone. The tech talent market in Ireland is still candidate short. This means anyone looking to hire talent is still struggling, even though things have calmed since the surge in post-covid hiring in 2021 and first half of 2022.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Friday 25th November 2022 was an incredible night for GemPool. This was the night when we were recognised by the Employment and Recruitment Federation as the best tech specialist agency in Ireland. The night was very special and memorable
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
When we talk about rewards in work, typically your mind immediately thinks about financial rewards like salary, raises, bonuses or commission. Recognition is a hugely important part of work. So many studies have shown how recognition drives engagement, loyalty, job satisfaction and therefore performance.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
At GemPool, we spend all day talking to candidates about their salary expectations, but also the benefits they currently have. It’s not always the salary that is the most important aspect of the remuneration package. All parts of a benefits package have the ability to sway a candidate to accept an offer, and also retain existing employees.
We completed our research for the recently published GemPool Tech Salary Guide Ireland for 2023 from August-December 2022. As part of this we also gathered data on benefits packages and today I am happy to share some of this with you.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
As we approach the end of 2022, it is fair to say that the tech recruitment industry in Ireland has been highly volatile this year. Market salary rates have skyrocketed for many skill sets, benefits packages have had to be reworked, working arrangements have changed fundamentally and the mindset around what people want from their work has shifted.
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by Michael Lantry
Data Centre Guidance
Last year we gave you a step by step guide on how to secure a job in a data centre. Today, I want to revisit this topic and add some extra insight and information that will help you.
The data centre market in Ireland is growing and has attracted a lot of media attention in recent months. For someone who might want to build a career in IT, then considering a job in IT infrastructure, specifically data centres is a smart play. With the proliferation of data across the globe, the need for data centres has never been stronger. Also, there really are some great career path opportunities.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
The IT industry in Ireland remains strong and resilient, despite global headwinds from inflation, the war and huge values dropping off the share prices of tech companies, especially in the USA. A recent report from the IDA Ireland boasted the highest ever amount of FDI (foreign direct investment) into Ireland over a six month period, in the first half of 2022.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Firstly, I am not an economist. I am a recruiter. So I cannot claim any level of expertise on the subject of the economy, BUT, one thing I have learnt from my career as a recruiter is that the recruitment industry is a good barometer of the economy. The recruitment industry feels it first when things slow down and also when things pick up.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
The recruitment services provided by an agency must add value to the client. This is paramount. If this value creation is not there, then it’s all a costly waste of time. So the focus should always be on what the client needs. The obvious need is to hire talent. But what are the other compelling ways that a recruitment agency can add value?
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
GemPool is working with some incredible tech companies in Ireland right now to help find them the right talent for their teams. As we talk to our clients to understand their needs, we have seen some trends emerging on what our clients are asking us to prioritise in our headhunting. Also, we are constantly talking to candidates in Ireland and across the EU every day.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
As a Leader, you must be people focused in your approach and think about the human behind the computer screen. Everyone has different stresses and things going on at any time, so burnout may occur in some people and not others. Leading with empathy, understanding and openness will allow you to be effective in trying to manage burnout in your team/s.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
In this blog I will propose three reasons why the market has seen so much flux. This analysis is based on what we are hearing from the market, in Ireland, and revolves predominantly around technical skill sets in software engineering roles up to management level. So this relates to mid level, senior level, and lead level software engineers.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
We are seeing companies get creative with how they are approaching the future and in all cases, these decisions will impact other parts of the company too. For example, if a role is fully remote or hybrid or fully onsite, how does this impact how you onboard someone into that role?
Today I am going to outline the key considerations when onboarding new team members going into hybrid roles, and make some suggestions on how to address these potential issues.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Performance management is a subtle art. I believe there are two components to effective performance management. Firstly you need to ensure that you have created the right environment, then it’s about the measurement of performance. As the old saying goes, what gets measured, gets done.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
At GemPool, we have worked with tech start-ups going all the way back to 2005. This is our bread and butter. It’s fantastic that Ireland has such a vibrant tech start-up scene.
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by Michael Lantry
Job Interview Preparation
Taking a longer term view of your career should make you more focused on the learning rather than the money you can make. Taking on a role in a really interesting, well led, start-up can put you on a faster trajectory towards your career goals.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Organisations have goals. These can be financial goals or sales goals, or growth in headcount goals etc. When you are working within an organisation, you will often hear about these goals at team, division or ‘all-hands’ meetings.
This is all very important as the employees of a company should know what they are trying to achieve, together. But these goals very often don’t directly impact individual employees, day to day.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
According to Wikipedia, a Business Analyst is a ‘person who analyses an organisation or business domain and documents its business, processes, or systems, assessing the business model or its integration with technology’. The aim of a Business Analyst, or BA, is to find improvements in these processes or systems.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Do you have responsibility over the performance of other members in your team? Have you changed how you manage those team members if they are now remote working and previously weren’t?
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Everyone’s experience of their work and career is very unique and personal. But there is one thing that everyone has in common. It’s in your control. You have the power to influence your own actions and the direction your career goes. You have the ability to make things happen.
One thing I would tell myself younger self finishing up in college would be to proactively go after what I wanted in my career.
The key is simple planning, goal setting and action. For anyone who is currently meandering in their career or feels like they are not in control of it, why not try out these 5 steps to managing your personal career development.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Having clear career paths and career ladders within a company has a number of benefits. The obvious one is that it provides a framework for existing staff to progress their career, learn new skills and continue to be challenged. But there are less obvious benefits worth paying attention to.
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by Michael Lantry
CV Assistance
The job spec really sets out the tone for the job and the employer. Get it right, and you will get more, better quality, applications, and therefore end hire. Get it wrong, and you can damage your brand in the talent market, and really struggle to get the right hire. This can be costly.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
This information age has meant an exponential creation of data. This has only been made possible by the growth and improvement of cloud computing technologies. One cannot underestimate the importance of cloud computing in our modern way of living.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Contracting Advice
In the USA the use of contract to hire arrangements is quite a popular approach for bringing in talent. So why do we not see it in Ireland where so many US owned companies operate and, quite often, our talent acquisition strategies and workforce structures align? Here we will attempt to explain what ‘contract to hire’ is and why it is not used by employers in Ireland.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
Analytics and its role in the Recruitment Process
Big Data Analytics is used by many global companies to understand people’s behaviors; Amazon and Ebay are notable examples. Through web attitudes and habits, these e-commerce driven businesses are able to obtain information on what people search online. For example following a search for a product on Google, you might find the same product appearing magically on your Amazon homepage later. This is not magic however; it is personalized target marketing through Big Data Analytics.
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by Michael Lantry
IT Jobs and Recruitment Insights
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