The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (05 December 2023) released Census 2022 Profile 7 – Employment, Occupations and Commuting. This press release highlights some of the main results for Waterford. A full list of county press releases is available.
| Kathleen Goulding | (+353) 1 895 1413 |
|---|---|
| Tony Downes | (+353) 1 895 1319 |
| censuspublicity@cso.ie | |
| pressoffice@cso.ie |
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Statistician's Comment
Commenting on the results, Dr. Tracy Clegg, Statistician in the Census Division, said: “Profile 7 covers the topics of Employment, Unemployment and Commuting providing statistics, analysis and data tables. The report looks at people at work or unemployed, occupations and industrial sectors as well as the commuting patterns of workers, students and children in school or childcare. New for Census 2022 are the additional topics of commuting to childcare and time leaving workplace, school, college or childcare giving more rounded information on travelling patterns as well as information on working from home.”
Some highlights for Waterford
People at Work/Unemployed
Almost 103,000 people living in the county in April 2022 were aged 15 and over and of these more than 55,300 people were at work. This was an increase of 21% (from the more than 45,595 people recorded as working in Census 2016). Nationally there were 2.3 million people at work in April 2022, which was up by 16%.
Almost 5,600 people were unemployed in the county in April 2022. This was considerably lower than the 2016 figure of over 8,300 (a decrease of 33%). The unemployment rate was 9% compared with 15% in 2016. Nationally there were almost 211,000 people unemployed compared with over 297,000 in Census 2016. The unemployment rate in 2022 was 8% compared with 13% in 2016.
There were more than 18,200 retired people in Waterford, an increase of 21% since Census 2016. There was a 25% increase in the number of people who were unable to work due to permanent sickness or disability to 5,225 people. The number of people looking after their home/family fell by 11% to just over 6,700.
The labour force participation rate was 59% in Waterford compared with 61% nationally. Among females the rate was 54% while for males it was 65%. Nationally the trend was similar at 56% female labour force participation and 67% for males.
Most people in work in Waterford were in full-time employment, with more than 40,000 people in this category, compared with almost 9,300 who were working part-time.
Where people worked
The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest number of workers in the county, at almost 9,000 workers. Human Health and Social Work Activities was the next largest, with just over 6,900 workers followed by Wholesale and Retail Trade with more than 6,400 workers. Waterford city and suburbs had 27,704 workers, of whom 56% lived in the city and suburbs. The largest commuter town was Tramore, with nearly 2,000 workers travelling to Waterford city and suburbs for work.
Working From Home
A new question was included in Census 2022 asking people whether they ever worked from home and if so, for how many days per week. There were over 55,300 people at work in Waterford in April 2022. Of these, over 34,700 never worked from home, while over 13,900 worked from home at least some of the time. Of those working from home, more than 3,800 people did so for five days per week, with 2,515 doing so for one day and 2,078 for two days each week.
Travelling to Work
There were 48,925 people travelling to work in the county in April 2022. The majority of these drove to work, with 31,639 people driving to work by car in 2022. There were 1,252 people travelling by bus, compared with 73 by train. Looking at active travel, 4,616 people walked to work, up from 3,996 in 2016, while 794 people cycled, an increase of 206 people since 2016.
Commuters in the county were travelling for longer in April 2022, with an average journey time of 23.6 minutes compared with 22.4 minutes in 2016. Nationally, the average journey time increased from 28.2 minutes to 29.1 minutes between 2016 and 2022. There were 14,956 Waterford commuters who had a journey time of less than 15 minutes, while 15,871 people had a journey time of 15 to 30 minutes. A further 3,580 people had a journey time of 60 minutes and over.
Travelling to School, College or Childcare
In Waterford, just over 3,800 children aged under 5 travelled to childcare or school. Most of these (over 3,100) travelled by car, while 425 walked and 63 went by bus.
Most of the 13,715 primary school aged children (5 to 12 years old) travelling to school in the county in April 2022 also travelled by car, with 8,525 doing so. Walking was the second most common means of travel at 2,464 children. A further 1,145 children used a bus while 289 children cycled.
Of the 9,996 secondary students (those aged 13-18 years) travelling to school, 5,045 were driven to school in a car, while 233 drove themselves to school. There were 2,278 students using a bus, and 8 using the train. A further 1,633 students walked to school while 197 cycled.
For the 4,664 third-level students commuting, driving a car was the most popular means of travel, at 1,339 people while 707 used a bus. Another 66 students travelled by train, DART or Luas while 105 cycled.