A quarter of Irish businesses plan to increase their headcount on a net basis in the second quarter, according to the latest ManpowerGroup employment outlook survey.

Ireland's net employment outlook for Q2 stands at +26%, up two points from the previous quarter, with 38% of firms planning to hire, 12% anticipating they will cut jobs, and 48% expecting no change.

Among firms planning to hire, 38% report business growth as the primary driver for adding jobs, but backfilling (31%), skills needs (+29%), evolving service needs (28%), and tech advancements (26%) were also widely cited.

However, a record 83% of businesses continue to report difficulty finding candidates with the skills they need.

For the 12% planning to cut jobs, economic challenges (34%) was the most common reason given, but employers are also adjusting to current demand (26%), restructuring (20%) and turning to automation (20%).

Net employment outlook was strongest among companies with 250-999 employees (+36%), 1,000 to 4,999 staff (+35%) and 50-249 workers (+31%).

Smaller firms of less than 10 employees (+16%) and 10-49 (+22%) were less likely to hire during the current quarter but large enterprises with more than 5,000 employees (+12%) were the least likely of the six organisation sizes surveyed.

The information technology sector reported the strongest appetite for employment growth, with 55% of firms in the second planning to hire, again driven by organisational growth.

Backfills represent the main reason for the large job hiring activity in the financial sector (+60%) in Q2.

The net employment outlook in the other sectors ranges from as low as +12% in other, +14% in communication services, +17% in energy and utilities and +19% in transport, logistics and automotive to +22% in health care and life sciences and +32% in industrial and materials.

The most competitive region in Ireland at present is Connacht (+43%) ahead of Dublin (+28%), Munster (+26%), the border counties (+22%) and the rest of Leinster (+9%).

Overall, Ireland ranks ahead of Germany (+22%), France (+20%), Italy (+18%) but behind global leader India (+43%), the US (+34%), China (+32%) and the UK (+31%) among others.

On an annual basis, net employment outlook has improved by 3% globally on average and by 5% in Ireland.

(Pic: Getty Images)