The Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys TD, has today published the first Annual Progress Report of Pathways to Work 2021-2025.
This is the first annual progress report produced by the Labour Market Advisory Council - a group of industry leaders, trade union and labour market experts who are responsible for providing external oversight of the strategy.
The report, approved by Cabinet today, sets out the progress made in achieving Pathways to Work’s commitments during the period July 2021 to June 2022.
Pathways to Work was launched in the midst of a global pandemic. The strategy’s central ambition was to restore unemployment back to or below its pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
The strength of the labour market recovery can be seen in that:
- Ireland now has more people in employment than ever before (2.55 million);
- the rate of unemployment is lower than pre-pandemic levels (4.4% in November 2022 compared to 4.8% in November 2019); and
- labour market participation has increased to 64.7% in Q3 2022, from 62.2% in Q3 2019.
On the findings of the report, Minister Humphreys said:
“’Pathways to Work’ was launched at a time of significant economic uncertainly as we grappled with a global Pandemic that forced tens of thousands of people to lose their jobs.
“Less than 18 months since the launch of the ambitious strategy, it’s clear that our economy has bounced back in remarkable fashion.
“Without doubt, the jobs recovery has been stronger and faster than anticipated.
“That’s evident from the fact that there are now more people working in Ireland than ever.
“The unemployment rate is now lower than it was pre-pandemic.
“And the Labour Market Participation rate has actually increased from 62% pre-pandemic to 65.3% as of Quarter two 2022 – an increase driven primarily by more women entering the labour force.
“As we enter 2023, it’s important that we continue to implement the commitments contained in ‘Pathways to Work’.
“It’s vital too, given the global headwinds facing us such as war in Ukraine and inflation, that we continue to have a strong suite of employment supports in place across Government which can be ramped up at speed in the event of any downturn.
“FinalIy, I want to thank the Labour Market Advisory Council for their time and dedication in producing this Report, which demonstrates the resilience of our economy even during challenging times.”
The Chair of the Labour Market Advisory Council, John Martin, former Director of the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Directorate in the OECD said:
“There has been significant progress in achieving the commitments set out in Pathways to Work this past year, and the labour market has seen a most welcome recovery since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As we enter 2023, Ireland, in common with other countries internationally, is facing an uncertain economic and labour market outlook as a consequence of the war in Ukraine and the need to bring high levels of inflation under control.
“Thus, it is vital that Government continues to deliver on Pathways to Work commitments to ensure that the public employment services, further education and training system, and the welfare system remain fit for purpose as we face these challenges.”
ENDS
Note to Editors:
The first Annual Progress Report of Pathways to Work 2021-2025 can be accessed here.
Pathways to Work was launched in July 2021. Of the strategy’s 83 commitments, 60 were due for delivery by the end of Q2 2022 or had a timeline of ‘Ongoing’ when the strategy was launched.
As of the end of June 2022, of these 60 commitments:
- 20 commitments were fully achieved or achieved with ongoing delivery;
- 38 further commitments were in progress, or in progress with ongoing delivery;
- One commitment was deferred and one commitment was yet to commence.
The Labour Market Advisory Council is an independent group of industry leaders and labour market experts appointed by the Minister for Social Protection. The role of the Council is to provide advice to the Minister and the Government on the efficient operation of the labour market, with a key focus on increasing participation rates, minimising unemployment levels and reducing average unemployment durations. In addition, the Council has been tasked with submitting a report on progress in implementing the Pathways to Work strategy to the Minister of Social Protection each year.