Sectors where employees work the LEAST hours a week

Workers in the accommodation, food services and education sectors worked on average the fewest hours per week of all industries in Ireland, i.e. Central Statistical Office (GUS) found.

Those working in accommodation and food services work an average of 29.5 hours a week, highlighting the importance of part-time work in this sector, while those working in education work an average of 29.8 hours a week, partly due to school holidays.

According to the Economic Activity Survey of the Central Statistical Office, in all sectors the average number of hours worked per week in the first quarter of the year was 35.4.

Other sectors in which employees worked fewer hours than average in the first quarter were wholesale and retail trade/motor vehicle repayment (31.9), health and social care (33.6), administrative and support services and services (34, 0).

People working in “Other business” (30.4) or whose employment sector was “unspecified” (33.9) also worked less than average per week.

Workers in Ireland worked an average of 84.4 million hours a week from January to March, a decline of 100,000 hours a week compared to the first quarter of 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%.