Construction firm CRH has topped The Irish Times TOP 1000 2017. The TOP 1000 is the definitive database of Ireland’s leading companies.
The outlook for 2017 is positive, and many sectors of the economy are rebounding after the challenges of the last few years.
Profits are up. Ireland’s top companies increased their net profits to €34 billion since 2016, up from €28 billion in 2016 and €22.4 billion in 2015.
This figure does not reflect the full picture. Multinationals, such as Apple, Penneys, IBM and Intel do not report financial figures for their Irish operations. As a result, the profit figure is likely to be considerably higher.
In addition, financial institutions including Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank are no long in debt.
Construction behemoth CRH has held onto first position. The company had a global turnover of €27 billion, in addition to a massive €700 jump in profits.
Second placed Medtronic is snapping at CRH’s heels with a global turnover of €26 billion in the year to April 2017.
Google has moved up to third place, former winner Microsoft placed fourth, and Oracle is up two places to edge into the Top 10.
A number of well-known companies are just outside the Top 10. Facebook gained five places to move into 13th position and Ryanair is in at 15.
Medtronic added almost €300 million to its profits in 2017. As a result, it is Ireland’s most profitable company. However, like many of the multinationals with Irish operations, Medtronic generates the majority of its profits from its global business.
Other Irish companies with impressive profits include Smurfit Kappa with €654 million, the Kerry Group at €611 million and €314 million for Kingspan.
Medtronic, Ireland’s most profitable company, is also Ireland’s biggest taxpayer. The company has a tax bill of €518 million for 2017. That’s around 13 percent.
CRH paid an effective rate of 27 percent, racking up a bill of €471 million last year.
Smurfit Kappa has one of the highest tax rates at 30 percent. Their tax bill was €196 million of tax on earnings of €654 million.
Companies don’t always pay the corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent. The rate can change, with companies paying tax at a higher rate in one year, and a lower rate the next.
The construction industry has become one of the most buoyant areas of the economy. Last year, the industry added about 1,000 jobs every month. However, skills shortages are hampering growth.
In 2016, DKM, the economic consultants, produced a report, “Demand for Skills in Construction to 2020” for the Construction Industry Federation (CIF). The report found that the industry would need an additional 76,000 workers over four years. It also warned that that there is considerable concern about the lack of skilled workers.
CAO figures show that students are increasingly opting to study architecture, engineering and courses linked to the built environment.
However, the number of apprentices across trades is worryingly low. In 2007, the construction industry had 23,700 apprentices. In 2016, there were just 4,400. As a result, there may not be enough people with the necessary skills to meet the demand.
Adding to the shortage is the large number of skilled workers who emigrated during the recession. Many had little choice.
Over five years of recession, the construction industry shed 180,000 jobs. In the first quarter of 2013, the industry employed nearly two-thirds fewer people than during the peak year 2007.
Unsurprisingly, this negatively affected the industry’s image. Although the number of third-level students choosing construction industry courses is up, the DKM report notes that improving the perception of the industry is crucial.
The number of qualified workers and apprentices in skilled crafts significantly dropped since the recession. One of the hardest hit was bricklayers and masons. The industry employed around two-thirds fewer of these craftspeople between the last quarters of 2007 and 2015. Over the same period, the number of apprentices dropped by 96.7 percent.
In addition, the industry shed 72 percent of its qualified plasterers, floorers and wall tillers. Apprentices for these fell 96.5 percent.
The DKM report recommended that the government and industry should work together to improve skills capacity. In addition, it suggested setting up a Construction Skills Forum to monitor progress and address barriers in the education and training system.
However, the construction industry needs skilled people now. Therefore, the report also recommends an international recruitment drive to target skilled workers who have left.
They also recommended working with SOLAS and Education and Training Board to deliver construction skills. This would help ease shortages as well as take people off the unemployment register.
In an interview with the magazine Irish Building, CIF Director General Tom Parlon noted that Irish construction firms can offer international experience.
“The CIF is now working to highlight the fact that construction can now provide globalised and innovation driven careers. The traditional crafts are in high demand but increasingly technology and innovation are producing new careers within the construction field. Many Irish companies internationalised, building infrastructure and commercial buildings in London, Dubai, China and many other global centres. These companies are now recognised as global leaders - the PM group is building the largest pharma plant in the world in China at the moment.”
The construction industry is booming, and with it, more and more students are considering careers in land, property and construction.
Last year the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland surveyed its members across all disciplines to shed light on the rewards and benefits available to those considering a career in surveying. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland is the independent professional body for chartered surveyors working and practising in Ireland.
The SCSI Salary and Benefits Report is a comprehensive remuneration survey for professionals working within property and construction.
The national average annual salary was a very respectable €70,717. However, there were some key differences worth examining. Let’s have a look at some of these.
During the first five years of their career, construction surveyors averaged a salary of €46,821 per year. Over the same period, property surveyors earned an average of €34,703 annually.
Surveyors working in Dublin were better compensated than those in other parts of Ireland. Here are the average annual salaries per region:
There is a gender pay gap in the profession. Men in the profession earn on average 13 percent more than women. However, if we look at experience as well as gender, things are a little more complicated.
The largest difference in salary is in the 16-20 years’ experience bracket. Here men out-earned women by 40 percent. It is hard to draw definitive conclusions from this as the number of female surveyors in this category was proportionally lower than in other categories.
During the first five years, women earned 7.6 percent more than their male counterparts did. The same as true in the 11-15 years’ experience bracket as women earned an average of 1.9 percent more. Again, these figures may reflect the fact that at all levels of experience, there were significantly more men than women.
The most common benefits chartered surveyors received were mobile phones and laptops, as well as professional association membership.
Over a third (36 percent) of chartered surveyors received 20-22 paid holidays per year. This was the most common holiday entitlement. Next, a quarter received 23-25 and a further 15 percent received 25-29 paid holidays respectively. Finally, a lucky 11 percent have more than 30 paid holidays per annum.
Due to the disproportional number of men versus women, SCSI analysed responses of maternity and paternity benefits separately. They found that 44 percent of female surveyors get some level of paid maternity leave from their employers. Only 18 percent of male surveyors received paid paternity leave.
Overall, surveyors seem happy in their jobs. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) expected to receive a pay increase in 2017. Furthermore, an impressive 80 percent of surveyors were not intending to change employer in the next 12 months.
There is good and bad news for people who are in professional jobs, or looking for one. The latest Morgan McKinley Ireland Employment monitor shows that professional job vacancies increased 15 percent in May 2017.
However, there was also an increase in the number of people seeking new professional roles. This figure was up by 16 percent compared to May.
The Morgan McKinley monitor tracks the number of new job vacancies and new candidates in Ireland each month.
The monitor also found that a number of financial services companies are not ready to commit to large recruitment plans, despite Brexit. As a result, they are filling positions as demand increases instead of pre-emptively hiring in large numbers.
There is strong demand for recently qualified accountants and tax consultants. In addition, Morgan McKinley posits that increased merger and acquisition activity is likely as accountancy firms scale to capture more market share.
Ireland’s ICT sector remains strong. There is high demand for both permanent and contract candidates. Furthermore, Brexit has resulted in a steady influx of candidates in the contract ICT sector. These candidates are moving from the UK to Ireland in search of more market certainty.
