sectors where employees work the most hours per week

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries workers work the most hours per week of any economic sector in Ireland, data shows Central Statistical Office (GUS) to introduce.

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries workers work an average of 43 hours a week, about seven hours and 36 minutes a week more than the more common average of 35.4 hours, according to the latest Q1 Labor Force Survey.

This was followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing, followed by construction (40.1 hours per week) and industry and construction (39.4 hours), which also includes areas such as mining and quarrying; production; energy and water supply; sewerage and waste management.

Information technology and communication, i.e. positions in the IT industry and media, took an average of 39.1 hours a week before transport and warehousing (38.7), professional, scientific and technical activities (38.0) and financial, insurance and real estate activities (37, 8).

Public administration and defense (36.5) is the only sector where employees worked more than average per week.

Workers in Ireland worked an average of 84.4 million hours a week in the first three months of the year, a decline of 100,000 hours a week compared to the same quarter in 2023.

However, the vocational, scientific and technical sector saw an additional 700,000 hours worked compared to last year, while industry and the human health and social care sector saw a decline of 400,000 hours.

The number of employees increased by 51,500, or 1.9%, to just over 2.7 million in the year to the end of the first quarter, the lowest annual growth in total employment in three years, and the employment rate was 73.8 %.

Employment increased most in professional, scientific and technical activities (+26,300, or 15.4%), education (+16,900, or 7.9%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (+6,500, or 6.4%) .

On the other hand, employment fell significantly in industry (-11,200, or 3.4%), administrative and support services (-3,000, or 2.6%) and wholesale and retail trade/motor vehicle repair (-5,400 , i.e. 1.6%).

About 573,400 people, or 21.2% of those employed, worked part-time, and the lowest employment rate was among teenagers (15–19 years old) at 26.3%.

The highest employment rate in the 35-44 age group was 83.9%, which means a decrease of 0.6 percentage points year on year (84.5%), while the highest annual employment increase in the 25-34 age group was 1.5 point percentage to 83.4%.

(Photo: Getty Images)