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Labour Market Churn Q4 2024

Results and Analysis

The job churn rate for Q4 2024 was 13.1%, down 1.3 percentage points on the same period in 2023

Online ISSN: 2990-8272

CSO statistical release, 27 March 2025, 11am

A CSO Frontier Series Output

This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources.

The highest job churn rate was recorded in the Administrative & Support Service Activities sector (26.0%) in Q4 2024

The highest job churn rate was recorded in the Administrative & Support Service Activities sector (26.0%), followed by the Accommodation & Food Service Activities sector (22.0%).

The lowest churn rate in Q4 2024 was observed in the Information & Communication sector at 7.8%, followed by Financial, Insurance & Real Estate Activities and Industry, (8.0% and 8.7% respectively).

The Wholesale & Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles & Motorcycles sector had the highest number of hirings (54,124) and recorded the highest job churn in the quarter at 59,764.

Accommodation & Food Service Activities had the highest number of separations (49,491) while Education had the highest number of job destructions (26,146). Wholesale & Retail Trade: Repair of Motor Vehicles & Motorcycles had the highest number of stayers (370,598) of all the economics sectors in Q4 2024.

The economic sector with the highest proportion of stayers in Q4 2024 was Industry (93.6%), while the lowest proportion of stayers was Administrative & Support Service Activities (81.6%).

The sector that saw the highest number of job creations in Q4 2024 was the Wholesale & Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles & Motorcycles sector (24,242), with an increase of 3.4% (793) from a year earlier.

The largest year-on-year percentage increases in job creations in Q4 2024 were seen in Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities, where creations were up 86.9% to 12,567 and Public Administration & Defence; Compulsory Social Security up 59.1% to 5,486.

The largest year-on-year percentage decreases in job creations in Q4 2024 were in Services down 29.8% to 113 and Construction down 7.1% to 7,005. Note: Due to the relatively low size of the sector, the Services sector can experience volatile changes year on year.

The economic sector that saw the highest number of people who left their primary employment but remained in the same sector in Q4 2024 was Human Health & Social Work Activities, where 13.9% of separations were working in the same sector in the next quarter.

In the Public Administration & Defence; Compulsory Social Security, over one in four (27.4%) primary employment separations were employed in a different economic sector in the next quarter – the highest proportion of all economic sectors in Q4 2024.

Table 2.1 Job Churn and Job Churn Rate by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter

Table 2.1 Job Churn and Job Churn Rate by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter
	Job Churn						Job Churn Rate
Economic Sector (Nace Rev.2)	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
Economic Sector (Nace Rev.2)	Number				Number		%				pp¹
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	3,016	3,160	3,350	3,126	-224	-34	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.4	-0.5	-0.5
Industry (B to E)	28,514	25,766	24,458	26,376	1,918	610	9.9	8.8	8.0	8.7	0.7	-0.1
Construction (F)	15,520	15,918	16,490	16,478	-12	560	11.5	11.5	11.4	11.2	-0.2	-0.3
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	73,046	65,672	55,502	59,764	4,262	-5,908	17.7	15.6	13.3	14.1	0.8	-1.5
Transportation and storage (H)	10,046	9,434	9,544	9,816	272	382	10.4	9.3	9.2	9.3	0.1	0.0
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	70,680	63,132	58,858	56,928	-1,930	-6,204	27.3	24.5	22.7	22.0	-0.7	-2.5
Information and communication (J)	14,428	10,064	10,232	10,954	722	890	10.1	7.3	7.4	7.8	0.5	0.6
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	14,622	12,646	11,842	11,464	-378	-1,182	10.8	9.1	8.4	8.0	-0.4	-1.1
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	22,040	19,800	18,600	20,656	2,056	856	12.9	11.2	10.0	11.0	1.0	-0.1
Administrative and support service activities (N)	62,896	56,062	51,120	52,682	1,562	-3,380	31.8	29.0	25.6	26.0	0.4	-3.0
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	8,852	12,922	14,400	14,460	60	1,538	6.3	9.1	9.9	9.7	-0.2	0.6
Education (P)	35,212	46,130	37,602	43,220	5,618	-2,910	13.6	17.7	13.3	16.0	2.6	-1.8
Human health and social work activities (Q)	39,438	46,150	40,690	38,984	-1,706	-7,166	10.8	12.2	10.1	9.5	-0.6	-2.6
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	13,602	13,334	12,790	12,414	-376	-920	14.3	13.4	12.2	12.0	-0.1	-1.4
Services (T,U)	122	130	150	162	12	32	12.6	11.5	11.4	12.7	1.3	1.2
Not stated	98	94	122	88	-34	-6	5.3	4.6	4.1	3.4	-0.7	-1.3
All Economic Sectors	412,132	400,414	365,750	377,572	11,822	-22,842	15.1	14.4	12.8	13.1	0.3	-1.3
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn
¹pp refers to percentage point change

Open in Excel: Labour Market Churn Q4 2024 Table 2.1 (XLS 13KB)

Visit Table JCQ01 on PxStat

Table 2.2 Hirings and Stayers by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter (number)

Table 2.2 Hirings and Stayers by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter (number)
	Hirings						Stayers
Economic Sector (Nace Rev.2)	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	3,479	3,713	4,339	3,777	-562	64	26,252	27,491	29,233	28,918	-315	1,427
Industry (B to E)	19,735	18,517	22,304	19,125	-3,179	608	266,058	273,414	282,392	280,888	-1,504	7,474
Construction (F)	14,292	15,503	19,872	15,244	-4,628	-259	118,631	121,119	126,392	127,348	956	6,229
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	58,237	56,285	44,112	54,124	10,012	-2,161	356,702	364,759	372,072	370,598	-1,474	5,839
Transportation and storage (H)	8,136	8,343	8,807	8,454	-353	111	88,053	92,461	95,197	96,210	1,013	3,749
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	47,570	44,495	47,164	41,956	-5,208	-2,539	203,870	208,119	214,424	212,404	-2,020	4,285
Information and communication (J)	13,074	9,567	12,338	11,763	-575	2,196	129,093	126,859	126,431	126,594	163	-265
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	11,489	11,091	11,113	10,594	-519	-497	123,558	126,038	128,404	128,837	433	2,799
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	17,858	16,625	19,051	22,895	3,844	6,270	152,806	158,970	164,647	164,719	72	5,749
Administrative and support service activities (N)	39,283	37,409	38,349	36,535	-1,814	-874	156,008	154,382	162,550	161,954	-596	7,572
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	7,917	9,909	10,921	12,716	1,795	2,807	133,600	131,793	133,818	136,918	3,100	5,125
Education (P)	38,235	33,739	34,586	33,142	-1,444	-597	224,028	221,099	243,022	226,576	-16,446	5,477
Human health and social work activities (Q)	31,899	32,279	34,833	29,418	-5,415	-2,861	335,264	345,587	364,423	366,135	1,712	20,548
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	12,271	13,432	16,907	12,732	-4,175	-700	79,997	83,661	87,459	87,243	-216	3,582
Services (T,U)	115	226	143	194	51	-32	843	954	1,137	1,036	-101	82
Not stated	284	479	564	204	-360	-275	1,535	1,538	2,504	1,431	-1,073	-107
All Economic Sectors	323,874	311,612	325,403	312,873	-12,530	1,261	2,396,298	2,438,244	2,534,105	2,517,809	-16,296	79,565
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn

Open in Excel: Labour Market Churn Q4 2024 Table 2.2 (XLS 11KB)

Visit Table JCQ01 on PxStat

Table 2.3a Separations by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter (number)

Table 2.3b Breakdown of Separations of Primary Employments by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector, Q4 2024 (number)

Table 2.4 Job Creation and Destruction by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter (number)

Table 2.4 Job Creation and Destruction by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter (number)
	Job Creation						Job Destruction
Economic Sector (Nace Rev.2)	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	1,971	2,133	2,664	2,214	-450	81	3,694	3,329	2,625	3,109	484	-220
Industry (B to E)	5,478	5,634	10,075	5,937	-4,138	303	10,919	10,398	7,106	10,529	3,423	131
Construction (F)	6,532	7,544	11,627	7,005	-4,622	-539	11,633	11,019	6,931	10,631	3,700	-388
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	21,714	23,449	16,361	24,242	7,881	793	18,892	17,028	12,306	15,978	3,672	-1,050
Transportation and storage (H)	3,113	3,626	4,035	3,546	-489	-80	3,107	3,284	2,506	3,036	530	-248
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	12,230	12,929	17,735	13,492	-4,243	563	26,309	23,547	13,325	21,027	7,702	-2,520
Information and communication (J)	5,860	4,535	7,222	6,286	-936	1,751	7,871	7,491	5,813	6,665	852	-826
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	4,178	4,768	5,192	4,862	-330	94	4,773	5,310	3,830	4,728	898	-582
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	6,838	6,725	9,751	12,567	2,816	5,842	8,499	9,884	10,918	8,912	-2,006	-972
Administrative and support service activities (N)	7,835	9,378	12,789	10,194	-2,595	816	12,967	12,491	8,117	12,530	4,413	39
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	3,491	3,448	3,721	5,486	1,765	2,038	774	3,249	5,325	4,134	-1,191	885
Education (P)	20,629	10,674	15,785	11,532	-4,253	858	14,102	21,919	24,174	26,146	1,972	4,227
Human health and social work activities (Q)	12,180	9,204	14,488	9,926	-4,562	722	10,165	10,379	10,752	13,810	3,058	3,431
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	5,470	6,765	10,512	6,525	-3,987	-240	11,750	11,096	5,677	11,114	5,437	18
Services (T,U)	54	161	68	113	45	-48	71	60	57	49	-8	-11
Not stated	235	432	503	160	-343	-272	265	303	244	515	271	212
All Economic Sectors	117,808	111,405	142,528	124,087	-18,441	12,682	145,791	150,787	119,706	152,913	33,207	2,126
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn

Open in Excel: Labour Market Churn Q4 2024 Table 2.4 (XLS 11KB)

Visit Table JCQ01 on PxStat

The firm size with the highest job churn rate in Q4 2024 were those with 50-249 employees

The firm size with the highest job churn rate in Q4 2024 was the 50-249 employee group, where the job churn was 16.0%, down from 17.3% in Q4 2023.

The firm size with the lowest job churn rate in Q4 2024 was the 1-9 employee group, where the job churn rate was 6.3%, down from 6.4% in Q4 2023.

In Q4 2024 all firm size groups observed a decrease in the job churn rate when compared with Q4 2023. The largest decrease was seen in firms with greater than 250 employees, down 1.9 percentage points from a job churn rate of 15.4% to 13.5%.

Firms with greater than 250 employees accounted for 42.0% of all job creations in Q4 2024 (52,105), up from a year ago when firms of this size made up 31.0% of job creations (34,487).

Looking at job destructions, firms with up to 49 employees accounted for 56.8% of all job destructions in Q4 2024 (86,898). This was a decrease on Q4 2023, when firms of this size were made up of 58.1% of job destructions (87,647).

The group of enterprises that made up the largest number of destructions by firm size was the 1 to 9 employees group. This group made up 33.4% of destructions in Q4 2024 (51,026), up from 32.3% of all destructions 12 months ago (48,664).

Table 2.5 Job Churn and Job Churn Rate by Firm Size and Quarter

Table 2.6 Hirings and Stayers by Firm Size and Quarter (number)

Table 2.7 Separations by Firm Size and Quarter (number)

Table 2.8 Job Creation and Destruction by Firm Size and Quarter (number)

Irish-owned enterprises accounted for 77.6% of the job churn in Q4 2024

In Q4 2024 there were 2,830,682 recorded employments, Irish-owned affiliates accounted for highest proportion at 76.2% followed by Foreign-owned affiliates owned by non-EU multinationals at 18.8% and Foreign-owned affiliates owned by EU multinationals at 4.9%.

The total number of jobs created in Q4 2024 was 124,087, an increase of 12,682 (11.4%) when compared to a year previous. Jobs created by Irish-owned enterprises accounted for 84.9% (105,341) of all jobs created in Q4 2024.

There were 152,913 job destructions in Q4 2024, an increase of 2,126 (1.4%) when compared with a year previous. The number of jobs destroyed was highest among Irish-owned enterprises which accounted for 87.7% (134,119) of the total figure.

Job churn rate for Irish-owned enterprises in Q4 2024 was 13.3%, a decline of 1.3 percentage points when compared with a year earlier. All Foreign-owned enterprises saw a fall of 1.5 percentage points, from 13.9% in Q4 2023 to 12.4% in Q4 2024.

Table 2.9 Job Churn and Job Churn Rate by Nationality of Enterprise Ownership

Table 2.10 Hirings and Stayers by Nationality of Enterprise Ownership (number)

Table 2.11 Separations by Nationality of Enterprise Ownership (number)

Table 2.12 Job Creation and Destruction by Nationality of Enterprise Ownership (number)

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Table 2.3a Separations by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector and Quarter (number)
	Separations
Economic Sector (Nace Rev.2)	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	5,202	4,909	4,300	4,672	372	-237
Industry (B to E)	25,176	23,281	19,335	23,717	4,382	436
Construction (F)	19,393	18,978	15,176	18,870	3,694	-108
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	55,415	49,864	40,057	45,860	5,803	-4,004
Transportation and storage (H)	8,130	8,001	7,278	7,944	666	-57
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	61,649	55,113	42,754	49,491	6,737	-5,622
Information and communication (J)	15,085	12,523	10,929	12,142	1,213	-381
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	12,084	11,633	9,751	10,460	709	-1,173
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	19,519	19,784	20,218	19,240	-978	-544
Administrative and support service activities (N)	44,415	40,522	33,677	38,871	5,194	-1,651
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	5,200	9,710	12,525	11,364	-1,161	1,654
Education (P)	31,708	44,984	42,975	47,756	4,781	2,772
Human health and social work activities (Q)	29,884	33,454	31,097	33,302	2,205	-152
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	18,551	17,763	12,072	17,321	5,249	-442
Services (T,U)	132	125	132	130	-2	5
Not stated	314	350	305	559	254	209
All Economic Sectors	351,857	350,994	302,581	341,699	39,118	-9,295
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn

Table 2.3b Breakdown of Separations of Primary Employments¹ by NACE Rev.2 Economic Sector, Q4 2024 (number)
	Separations of Primary Employments
Economic Sector (Nace Rev.2)	Same² Economic Sector	Different³ Economic Sector	No longer employed⁴	Total
Agriculture, forestry and fishing (A)	112	381	2,439	2,932
Industry (B to E)	759	2,386	11,290	14,435
Construction (F)	1,119	1,778	8,044	10,941
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G)	3,241	7,081	18,468	28,790
Transportation and storage (H)	314	1,052	3,367	4,733
Accommodation and food service activities (I)	2,848	3,544	18,752	25,144
Information and communication (J)	902	1,139	4,716	6,757
Financial, insurance and real estate activities (K,L)	296	1,589	4,441	6,326
Professional, scientific and technical activities (M)	818	2,883	7,913	11,614
Administrative and support service activities (N)	1,468	3,750	11,289	16,507
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security (O)	220	1,407	3,499	5,126
Education (P)	1,397	2,377	14,873	18,647
Human health and social work activities (Q)	2,261	1,826	12,218	16,305
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R,S)	347	1,441	7,093	8,881
Services (T,U)	0	18	63	81
Not stated	7	28	233	268
All Economic Sectors	16,109	32,680	128,698	177,487
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn
^1.Any additional employments have been excluded.
^2.Employees who have changed employer but stayed in the same Economic Sector.
^3. Employees who have changed employer and Economic Sector.
^4.Employees who had an employer in the previous quarter but do not in the current quarter.

Table 2.6 Hirings and Stayers by Firm Size and Quarter (number)
	Hirings						Stayers
Firm Size	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
1 to 9 Employees	32,164	37,577	42,846	33,680	-9,166	-3,897	282,479	278,544	278,024	285,900	7,876	7,356
10 to 49 Employees	65,474	66,745	75,289	63,511	-11,778	-3,234	453,495	467,313	480,379	477,964	-2,415	10,651
50 to 249 Employees	72,150	67,492	74,498	66,437	-8,061	-1,055	458,691	469,644	485,355	481,117	-4,238	11,473
250+ Employees	154,086	139,798	132,770	149,245	16,475	9,447	1,201,633	1,222,743	1,290,347	1,272,828	-17,519	50,085
All employees	323,874	311,612	325,403	312,873	-12,530	1,261	2,396,298	2,438,244	2,534,105	2,517,809	-16,296	79,565
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn

Table 2.7 Separations by Firm Size and Quarter (number)
	Separations
Firm Size	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
1 to 9 Employees	61,349	59,163	53,434	61,621	8,187	2,458
10 to 49 Employees	78,217	76,525	71,167	72,421	1,254	-4,104
50 to 249 Employees	81,994	71,656	59,697	68,171	8,474	-3,485
250+ Employees	130,297	143,650	118,283	139,486	21,203	-4,164
All Employees	351,857	350,994	302,581	341,699	39,118	-9,295
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn

Table 2.8 Job Creation and Destruction by Firm Size and Quarter (number)
	Job Creation						Job Destruction
Firm Size	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
1 to 9 Employees	21,655	27,078	32,036	23,085	-8,951	-3,993	50,840	48,664	42,624	51,026	8,402	2,362
10 to 49 Employees	25,477	29,203	37,719	26,962	-10,757	-2,241	38,220	38,983	33,597	35,872	2,275	-3,111
50 to 249 Employees	20,536	20,637	29,247	21,935	-7,312	1,298	30,380	24,801	14,446	23,669	9,223	-1,132
250+ Employees	50,140	34,487	43,526	52,105	8,579	17,618	26,351	38,339	29,039	42,346	13,307	4,007
All Employees	117,808	111,405	142,528	124,087	-18,441	12,682	145,791	150,787	119,706	152,913	33,207	2,126
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn

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Labour Market Churn Q4 2024

Results and Analysis

The job churn rate for Q4 2024 was 13.1%, down 1.3 percentage points on the same period in 2023

A CSO Frontier Series Output

The highest job churn rate was recorded in the Administrative & Support Service Activities sector (26.0%) in Q4 2024

The firm size with the highest job churn rate in Q4 2024 were those with 50-249 employees

Irish-owned enterprises accounted for 77.6% of the job churn in Q4 2024

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Table 2.11 Separations by Nationality of Enterprise Ownership and Quarter (number)
	Separations
Foreign/Domestic	Q4 2022	Q4 2023	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	Quarterly Change	Annual Change
Irish-owned affiliates	276,791	281,733	248,822	280,613	31,791	-1,120
Foreign-owned affiliates owned by EU multinationals	14,090	13,243	9,844	11,750	1,906	-1,493
Foreign-owned affiliates owned by non-EU multinationals	59,202	53,814	43,337	47,991	4,654	-5,823
All Foreign-owned affiliates	73,292	67,057	53,181	59,741	6,560	-7,316
Not Stated	1,774	2,204	578	1,345	767	-856
All enterprises	351,857	350,994	302,581	341,699	39,118	-9,295
Source: CSO Labour Market Churn