Latest news with #Keevans
RTÉ News
13-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Is the big AI job displacement already under way?
The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on employment came into sharp focus this week. On Tuesday, the Minister of State with responsibility for AI, Niamh Smyth, told the Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence that there will be a certain amount of job displacement because of AI. Also this week, the latest 'Employment Monitor' from recruitment firm Morgan McKinley Ireland found notable reductions in graduate hiring by major firms in the accountancy and finance sectors because of the adoption of AI. And on Thursday, AIB announced a major AI rollout for staff in conjunction with Microsoft Ireland, sparking concerns from trade unions. Graduate hiring Morgan McKinley Ireland's Employment Monitor for the second quarter of the year was published on Thursday. The recruitment firm said that the standout development of the quarter was the significant impact of AI and automation, particularly within the accountancy and finance sectors. "The notable reduction in graduate hiring by major firms, driven by AI capabilities, highlights potential challenges ahead," the report found. "Companies are increasingly leveraging AI capabilities to automate routine tasks such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, credit control, and payroll." "A notable trend driven by automation is the reduction in graduate-level hiring, raising concerns about potential shortages of experienced mid-level professionals, which could impact future business operations and growth," according to Morgan McKinley. The graduates of today may well end up being the key staff members, middle-managers and executives of tomorrow. It means there is a danger that companies could be depriving themselves of future talent pipelines by reducing graduate hiring. "We have certainly learned from the crash of 2008 that it did have a knock-on effect and impact on the workforce four to five years later," said Trayc Keevans, Global Director, Morgan McKinley Ireland. "We are advising caution at this point that a reduction in graduate numbers, albeit to offset against certain advancements that AI may be giving by eradicating some early tasks, will impact that middle management and oversight level that is required to pipeline for future talent," Ms Keevans said. Many companies have decided that entry-level, repetitive tasks that were traditionally done by graduates, can now be done by AI tools. But performing these so-called 'menial' tasks are often a way for new recruits to learn their trade and gain experience from a ground-up approach. "Graduates, particularly in the areas of accounting and finance, that come through professional service firms, got experience previously in things like budget reconciliation, document reviews, and first past audit checks," Ms Keevans said. "But these types of tasks can now be done by AI." "While that redefining of graduate roles is happening, there is caution amongst employers to hire the same volume of graduates that they would otherwise have." "We expect and hope this is a short-term view while employers are catching up with the redesign of these graduate roles," she added. Graduates will also need skills to control and supervise the AI models that their employers are increasingly relying on. To do that, they will need to understand the tasks that are being performed by the technology. "It is really about making sure they get sufficient exposure and experience to develop oversight skills and to ensure that, rather than competing with AI in the future, they will be working with it and governing it efficiently and ethically," Ms Keevans said. According to the Morgan McKinley Employment Monitor, the rise of AI is not just impacting the jobs market in a negative way, it is also leading to increased hiring for roles such as data engineers. AI rollout at AIB AIB announced a new artificial intelligence rollout for staff in conjunction with Microsoft Ireland on Thursday. The bank said the new tools will reduce time spent on repetitive tasks, freeing up employees for higher-value work. The plan will involve the widespread deployment of Microsoft 365 Copilot, embedding AI into everyday tools like Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, and PowerPoint. The Financial Services Union (FSU) expressed concerns that AIB made its big AI announcement before a formal agreement had been finalised with unions. "We had submitted a draft agreement that we wished to conclude with the bank on the adoption of AI, as we believe that is the best way forward to manage change of this potential scale," General Secretary of the FSU John O'Connell said. "We would strongly wish that we had an agreement before the announcement was made but we have ongoing engagement with the bank, and we are confident we will reach agreement on this." "I think the big worry is displacement and potential job losses but while AI is a disruptor, it is also an enabler." "There is potential, but that potential has to be exploited with a laser-like focus in terms of reskilling people who are impacted," Mr O'Connell added. AIB has insisted that staff will be offered a comprehensive package of support and training to ensure they get the most out of the new AI tools. The bank also said it has been engaging with unions on its AI rollout and will continue to do so. Last month, the Chief Executive of AIB Colin Hunt took part in a panel discussion at a Bloomberg event in Dublin. Asked what impact AI will have on staffing numbers at the bank over the next five years, Mr Hunt said it may lead to a small reduction in net headcount. "I do think that there are certain manual processes that we do now that will be done by AI in the future, and probably net headcount will be broadly stable with a slight downward bias maybe," Mr Hunt said. A recent survey by the FSU and the think tank TASC revealed widespread concern among staff in the financial services sector over the possible effects of AI. The research found that 88% of respondents believe AI will lead to job displacement, while 60% report feeling less secure in their roles than they did five years ago. The survey findings were raised by members of the Oireachtas AI Committee this week during an appearance by Ms Smyth. "We have to acknowledge that there will be a certain amount of displacement," she said. "But I would hope that with the establishment of an AI Observatory, that would give us clear data and analysis to see where this is going, where the jobs are being impacted and how we can mitigate against that," she added. Layoffs in the tech sector Earlier this month, Microsoft announced plans to cut 9,000 jobs globally following on from 6,000 layoffs announced in May, and 1,000 redundancies in January. The cuts come amid a major drive towards AI at the tech giant. "The company has invested billions in AI infrastructure, and CEO Satya Nadella recently noted that up to 30% of Microsoft's code is now written by AI tools," according to Fortune Magazine. "While Microsoft has not directly attributed the layoffs to AI replacing human workers, the timing and focus of the cuts suggest a shift toward a leaner, more automated organisation." Microsoft employs more than 4,000 people in Ireland across software development, engineering, data centres, finance, operations, and sales and marketing services. It also owns LinkedIn, which employs more than 2,000 people in Ireland, bringing Microsoft's total Irish-based headcount to over 6,000 people. The company has not said how many Irish-based roles will be cut as part of these latest layoffs, but the Department of Enterprise confirmed at the time of the announcement that it had received a collective redundancy notification from Microsoft. A recent Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearing was told that 150 job cuts announced last year for multilingual support staff at TikTok's Irish office were driven by major advancements in AI. A barrister for TikTok told the WRC that the business rationale for the layoffs was based on "vastly improving" AI technology "taking on a bigger role" and "reducing the number of employees required, particularly language skills". Which jobs will be most impacted by AI? Last year the Government produced a series of reports entitled 'Artificial Intelligence: Friend or Foe'. The research focussing on the labour market impacts found that around 30% of workers are employed in roles that are at risk of being replaced by AI. The report concluded that people working in the financial and insurance sector, and the information and communication sector are the most exposed. It found that at-risk jobs include laboratory technicians, accountants, telephone salespeople, and IT operations technicians. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector was found to be the least exposed. Women appear to be relatively more exposed to AI than men, arising from the fact more women are employed in administrative or customer occupations. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to be employed in agricultural or construction-related roles. According to the study, Ireland's labour market is marginally more exposed to AI than the advanced economy average at 63% vs 60%. The research also found that 33% of employment is in occupations where AI is likely to complement labour and boost productivity. As companies embrace artificial intelligence, most are currently focussed on the tasks that AI can replace rather than the people. But what happens when bosses start to realise that the people who used to perform those tasks are no longer needed? It is a movement that has clearly already begun, as evidenced by Thursday's employment report highlighting the notable fall in graduate hiring in accounting and finance. There are signs of it too across big tech, an industry that Ireland has become so reliant on for employment. It was AIB that made headlines this week with its big AI rollout which prompted trade union worries. We can expect a lot of similar announcements, and expressions of concern, over the coming months and years as AI continues to transform workplaces.
The Journal
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Journal
AI beginning to influence jobs market in customer service and accounting roles, says new report
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS beginning to influence listing of customer service roles, with automation tools handling routine queries, according to a new report into the Irish jobs market. The accounting and finance sector is also experiencing a 'significant shift' towards data analytics and AI-driven roles, according to the latest Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor. Companies are increasingly leveraging AI capabilities to automate routine tasks such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, credit control, and payroll, the report said. Trayc Keevans, global director at Morgan McKinley Ireland, said there had been a 'notable reduction' in graduate hiring by major firms, which she said was driven by AI capabilities and highlights potential challenges ahead. 'The standout development this quarter is the significant impact of AI and automation, particularly within the accountancy and finance sectors,' Keevans said. Advertisement 'Permanent roles, especially in data engineering, are notably active as companies build their infrastructure for broader AI integration.' AI-related hiring in the financial sector is 'primarily connected to data engineering roles, where organisations are cleaning and structuring data ahead of more extensive AI implementations, rather than directly hiring for purely AI-focused positions', the report continued. Overall, professional job openings across Ireland increased by 10% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter. However, the market remains cautious, with a slight year-on-year decline of 1.8%. Job seeker activity decreased by 6%. 'The professional employment market in Ireland has shown steady resilience in Q2, despite external economic uncertainties and shifting global trade dynamics,' Keevans said. Keevans added that ongoing debates around hybrid and return-to-office working models 'continue to shape recruitment strategies', as employers seek a balance between flexibility and work in the office. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
10-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
'Notable reductions' in graduate hiring due to AI
There have been "notable reductions" in graduate hiring by major firms in the accountancy and finance sectors because of the impact of AI, according to the latest Employment Monitor from recruitment firm Morgan McKinley Ireland. The report found that the standout development in the second quarter of the year was the significant impact of AI and automation, highlighting potential challenges ahead. "A notable trend driven by automation is the reduction in graduate-level hiring, raising concerns about potential shortages of experienced mid-level professionals, which could impact future business operations and growth," said Trayc Keevans, Global Director at Morgan McKinley Ireland. The shift towards AI has seen an increase in data engineering roles. Overall, there was a year-on-year decline in job vacancies of 1.8% in the second quarter of the year. The research found that on a quarterly basis, professional job openings increased by 10%. Job seeker activity decreased by 6% from the first quarter but showed a modest year-on-year rise of 1.5%, indicating what Morgan McKinley described as a resilient yet cautious employment environment. According to the research, ongoing debates around hybrid and return-to-office working models are continuing to shape recruitment strategies, as employers seek the right balance between flexibility and in-person attendance. "Business support roles have shown increased hiring, particularly driven by the return-to-office trend, with strong demand for onsite co-ordination and administrative positions," Ms Keevans said. The report found that contract hiring among larger multinational firms slowed in the quarter, influenced by tighter cost controls prompting a shift towards permanent positions or offshore staffing solutions. According to the employment monitor, the construction sector remains under significant pressure, facing persistent shortages of skilled professionals, especially quantity surveyors and project planners. The data is based on new job vacancies and new candidates registered with Morgan McKinley's network of Irish offices in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
RTÉ News
09-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Decline in job vacancies in second quarter of year
There was a year-on-year decline in job vacancies of 1.8% in the second quarter of the year according to the latest Employment Monitor from recruitment firm Morgan McKinley Ireland. The figures show that on a quarterly basis, professional job openings increased by 10%. Job seeker activity decreased by 6% from the first quarter but showed a modest year-on-year rise of 1.5%, indicating what Morgan McKinley described as a resilient yet cautious employment environment. According to the report, the standout development in the quarter was the significant impact of AI and automation, particularly within the accountancy and finance sectors. It found notable reductions in graduate hiring by major firms, driven by AI capabilities, highlighting potential challenges ahead. "A notable trend driven by automation is the reduction in graduate-level hiring, raising concerns about potential shortages of experienced mid-level professionals, which could impact future business operations and growth," said Trayc Keevans, Global Director at Morgan McKinley Ireland. The shift towards AI has seen an increase in data engineering roles. According to the research, ongoing debates around hybrid and return-to-office working models are continuing to shape recruitment strategies, as employers seek the right balance between flexibility and in-person attendance. "Business support roles have shown increased hiring, particularly driven by the return-to-office trend, with strong demand for onsite co-ordination and administrative positions," Ms Keevans said. The report found that contract hiring among larger multinational firms slowed in the quarter, influenced by tighter cost controls prompting a shift towards permanent positions or offshore staffing solutions. According to the employment monitor, the construction sector remains under significant pressure, facing persistent shortages of skilled professionals, especially quantity surveyors and project planners. The data is based on new job vacancies and new candidates registered with Morgan McKinley's network of Irish offices in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
RTÉ News
11-06-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Are 'quiet redundancies' happening in your workplace?
Analysis: Employers in Ireland are implementing 'quiet redundancies' to scale back workforces in the face of uncertainty, tariffs and AI You've heard of revenge quitting, quiet quitting, coffee badging and micro-retirement, but what about 'quiet redundancies'? According to a recent report from consultants Morgan McKinley, there's been a 'subtle shift' in how workplaces in Ireland are strategising and planning around hiring, in order to scale back their headcount in the face of uncertainty. "One emerging trend this quarter is the prevalence of ' quiet redundancies '—non-renewals, scaled-back team structures and discreet workforce adjustments that are not immediately visible in headline figures," the report noted. But what exactly are quiet redundancies and how do they show up? "If you use the American phrase it's 'quiet firing' or 'stealth layoffs'," says Trayc Keevans, Global Foreign Direct Investment Director at Morgan McKinley in Dublin. "It's a situation where a company will reduce its workforce, but it won't do it through the official redundancy means, and they won't do it in the volume that would require a public announcement. So there's a lot of ways in which it can be done, and this is where it becomes a little bit complicated." From RTÉ Brainstorm, why micro-retirement has become a new workplace trend for Gen Z & millennials Quiet redundancies can involve, for example, roles being re-drawn or phased out, or the non-renewal of contracts. "Somebody who would have been on a contract, the work is still there but that contract wouldn't be renewed and that work would be allocated to, maybe, permanent team members," says Keevans. "There could be a situation where people might have a lack of support and resources and may leave of their own volition. There may be incentives for people to retire early. In some extreme cases, maybe exclusion from certain projects that would lead to discontent and people may be leaving of their own volition." "There's a lot of cases where we have had talent speaking to us about the fact that somebody in their team has gone on maternity leave, for example, and they're not getting the replacement for them. So that work has been allocated across a number of persons, where before there would have been a contract cover for that person," she says. "We are seeing a workforce that, yes it's been streamlined, but the workforce that's in place now, a lot of them are creaking at the seams, in terms of they're doing a lot more with less resources." How was the trend identified? Morgan McKinley produces a quarterly employment monitor that measures and compares two things: the number of professionals that are on the market at that time, and the percentage difference quarter on quarter, and year on year, as well as the percentage of professional job opportunities in the market. From PBS NewsHour, what is quiet firing, and how do you know if it's happening to you? "Quarter on quarter it wasn't telling us a lot," says Keevans. "But when we looked year on year it showed us that there was 16% more professionals on the employment market looking at opportunities, versus only a 2% increase in corresponding jobs. So the rate of professionals looking for jobs was increasing faster than the number of jobs being created, and that wasn't necessarily being reflected in the unemployment rate, which was largely holding its own around [3.9% to 4.2%] year on year." What's driving the trend? Previously, when someone handed in their notice, by and large the role was being replaced, says Keevans. "The only difference might be, would there be a different profile of person required from a soft skills point of view? Was there anything that had changed in terms of the role itself that required a think-through? That was maybe as complex as it got." But from the beginning of last year the pace of hiring slowed down and "there was a much more cautious and considered approach" to hiring, she says. So instead of a role being immediately or directly replaced, "a person would hand in their notice and then the organisation would have a discussion around, are the skills that were within that position still required within the organisation? Or does the organisation require a different set of skills, a different profile of hire to go forward? And very often what you had was a completely different position from what the person who handed in their notice would be - and that slows down the pace of hiring." From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, how Covid changed how we work and the traditional workplace This was in part a consequence of a lot of over-hiring in the Covid years. "There was a need to maybe look at right-sizing their organisation," says Keevans. "There was more consideration, more stakeholders involved in that decision, there was caution around budgets, and was this an absolute necessary hire?" In parallel, AI is an inescapable part of the conversation. It's difficult to quantify the impact that AI is having at this point, Keevans says, but elements of jobs and processes are being automated, with the result that a role might not be completely replaced [by AI] but it might "involve a reallocation of the responsibilities of a role, where some can be automated across a number of employees. With the result of that work forces were reducing in size." "Cost saving was obviously one part of it but also there was a sense that companies didn't want the negative publicity that a redundancy situation would typically give to its employer brand," she says. "Because in parallel with this streamlining of headcount there was also a need to hire new emerging skills that were critical for the business to successfully move forward and continue to be successful in its given environment." From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, creatives braced to be among first casualties of AI expansion The report noted that while it's too early to pinpoint the exact drivers behind the trend, "the combination of global economic uncertainty, AI-led transformation and anticipation around US tariffs suggests companies are shifting from reactive hiring to more cautious, long-term workforce planning." US tariffs and the growing role of AI are often cited as sources of uncertainty for the employment market, says Professor Kevin Murphy from the University of Limerick. "Both of these signal employers' inability or unwillingness to make lang-term investments across the board, including investments in the workforce." Tariffs, which have become a significant factor thanks to US president Donald Trump, are a source of "particular instability" because of "near-constant changes in the scope of proposed tariffs", says Murphy. "Depending on the day, US tariffs on exports from the EU might be 10%, 20% or 50%, with no guarantee that they won't change fundamentally the next day." Unlike many workforce adjustments in the past, Murphy says the current pattern of uncertainty is hitting skilled workers in knowledge-dependent jobs more heavily. "Managers and professionals have often been insulated from changes in the job market, but the continuing development of technology that can replace some of the services they have traditionally provided is making job markets for skilled knowledge workers particularly unstable." The moves in reaction to the current global economic climate have been more than six months in play, says Keevans. Global supply chain and procurement operations are, in some cases, being retrenched back to the US for some US-headquartered businesses "and that's largely to do with taxes, tax structures and agreements that can be in place." The tariffs add an additional burden and layer to operating in Ireland, with the result that "there's probably more senior procurement talent coming on to the market than we've seen in years, because they've been highly sought after by a lot of the US multinationals setting up here," she says. Is the 'quiet redundancies' trend going to continue? "It's hard to tell. What I would say is that hiring has become more unpredictable than I think it has ever been," says Keevans. "While Ireland is still very reliant on the US for Foreign Direct Investment, disproportionate to other locations, I do think there's really good work being done by IDA to repurpose that a little bit and safeguard future investments. I've seen a lot of investments opportunities coming from other international locations which would bode very positively for future hiring here in Ireland." "One of the things that's really apparent is hiring will take more of a skills-based approach, maybe than it ever has before," she says. "So there's huge opportunities for employees to really consider the role that they're doing, and saying, where are the gaps versus how the market is moving?" There has been is an increase in internal mobility and that's back to organisations upskilling and reskilling their existing workers "There's a lot of work being done on organisational structures throughout the country - is it fit for purpose? Is it fit for where markets are going, to insulate against any risks that they may have both locally and internationally? Skills will form a big part of that." "LinkedIn has released regular data on the speed of hiring and the volume of hiring, and what they can see is that there's been reduction in speed of hiring in a number of countries, Ireland included, year on year. But what there has been is an increase in internal mobility and that's back to the focus that organisations have of upskilling and reskilling their existing workforce, understanding better what are the skills that they have within their organisation."
