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19th Jan 2022

Irish workers lost out on an estimated €6,000 in earnings due to the pandemic

Hugh Carr

irish workers loss survey

Over 6 in 10 workers surveyed are considering moving jobs.

Irish workers may have lost out on an estimated €6,000 due to the pandemic.

The figure was published in a new survey by LinkedIn on Wednesday (19 January).

63% of the 1,001 professionals surveyed are considering changing jobs this year.

Using CSO data, this equates to 1.4 million workers looking for new employment in 2022.

Over a quarter of workers surveyed who didn’t change jobs due to a lack of confidence or not wanting to switch during the pandemic said that they believe they potentially missed out on additional earnings since March of 2020.

The average earnings loss is suspected to be over €6,000.

Almost three-quarters of professionals with careers of up to two years are considering switching jobs this year.

65% of workers with careers between 1-2 years also feel confident enough to push for a promotion or to find new job opportunities at work.

The LinkedIn study also showed the change in priorities for perks in work due to the prevalence of working from home.

The top five most-desired perks for professionals looking for new employment are:

  • Access to online training (47%)
  • Credit for food delivery services like Deliveroo or JustEat (40%)
  • Access to online counselling (37%)
  • Subscriptions for mental health apps like Calm (36%)
  • Access to virtual exercise classes or personal trainers (35%)

These perks have become more attractive than office facilities like gyms or pool tables to prospective employees.

Earlier this week, 88% of workers surveyed who are currently working remotely would like to have the option to do so once restrictions have been lifted.

This result was published in the ‘Our Lives Online’ survey from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Tuesday (18 January).

Of the 88% who said they would like the option to work from home, three in 10 respondents said they would do like to do it full time.

75% of respondents who had home duties and 69% of those unable to work due to health problems would consider employment if they could work remotely.