Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 December 2021
184. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of jobs created or lost in the services sector in the course of each of the past six years to date; the steps taken or in hand to ensure continued investment and job creation in the sector in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61073/21]
View answerOfficial data on economy-wide employment is taken from the Central Statistic Office's (CSO) Labour Force Survey, which is updated quarterly. The CSO does not publish data on the gross job gains or losses in each sector but only the total number employed. Based on the data published in the CSO's Labour Force Survey, my officials tell me that employment in the services sector grew from 1,579,000 jobs in 2015 to 1,906,000 jobs in 2021. There was positive net change in employment for each year between 2015 and 2021 with the exception of year 2020 due to the pandemic. Table 1 sets out the data for employment in services sector over the past six years.
Table 1: Employment (Q3 each year) & Net Change in Employment, Services Sector, 2015 -2021, (000s)
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
|
|
Services employment |
1,579 |
1,628 |
1,667 |
1,725 |
1,775 |
1,715 |
1,906 |
|
Services Net Change in Employment |
35 |
49 |
39 |
58 |
50 |
- 59 |
191 |
Source: CSO Labour Force Survey, Q3 2021
A more detailed breakdown of employment and net change in employment within the sub-sectors of services are provided in the tables attached.
These figures include those on the PUP and EWSS as employed. This is due to the ILO standard measure of employment, unemployment and inactivity. The number on the PUP in the services sector was 32,451 as at 28th November 2021 and the number on EWSS in November 2021 was 275,100.
The Government published its Economic Recovery Plan in June, which set a target to exceed pre-crisis employment levels by having 2.5 million people in work by 2024 and in more productive and resilient jobs. As well as committing to a package of supports and investments to assist enterprise recovery, the Plan outlines a medium-term policy framework to rebuild sustainable enterprises, encourage job creation and sustainable and balanced post pandemic growth across all sectors of the economy.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Government has been committed to helping the sectors and workers most impacted. We will continue to create the right environment for a jobs-led recovery and further employment growth by helping business become more resilient and agile and supporting people to transition to new jobs in growing sectors of the economy.
Our Economic Recovery Plan a two-pronged approach to rebuilding a sustainable enterprise; a focus on domestic SMEs, whilst leveraging and reinforcing the enormous strength and resilience of the Foreign Direct Investment sector in Ireland. We will also accelerate the provision of training, reskilling and upskilling opportunities will be pursued through Pathways to Work 2021-2025. As the labour market recovers and as we approach our employment target of 2.5 million, an increasing focus will also be placed on improving labour market participation levels.
