The Department for the Economy's Analytical Services Unit has produced this article exploring online job posting trends: temporary and 'work from home' opportunities.

Between April and October 2020, there were almost 50,000 online job postings in Northern Ireland, one-third fewer than over the same period in 2019. Approximately 11 per cent of online job postings have been for temporary opportunities with 6 per cent incorporating 'work from home' opportunities; proportionally three times higher than the same period in 2019.

Temporary employment opportunities

Those occupations that experienced a relatively high proportion of temporary employment opportunities along with a relatively high number of temporary online job postings (at least 100) over the seven month period examined were:

  • medical practitioners (45 per cent of online job postings were temporary)
  • large goods vehicle drivers (26 per cent)
  • human resources and industrial relations officers (21 per cent)
  • customer service occupations (17 per cent)
  • cleaners and domestics (16 per cent).

The top employers for temporary opportunities in October included:

Work from home opportunities

With one in 18 online job postings since April 2020 providing work from home opportunities, it is worth considering what is driving this trend. Those occupations that experienced a relatively high proportion of work from home opportunities along with more than 100 work from home online job postings included:

  • web design and development professionals (18 per cent)
  • sales related occupations (17 per cent)
  • programmers and software development professionals (16 per cent)
  • customer service occupations (14 per cent)
  • chartered and certified accountants (8 per cent).

The top employers for work from home opportunities in October 2020 included:

Notes and sources

Information for this article was obtained using Burning Glass Labour Insight. This article considered the online job postings for temporary and work from home opportunities over the period April to October 2020 in Northern Ireland. Due to limitations in gathering the data, please use the information provided as part of the larger picture regarding employment opportunities.

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