We, at PeopleSource, have been producing this little missive for more years than we care to remember (9yrs and counting!) and we believe July 2024 has been one of the, if not the most tumultuous months we have ever reflected on!
Two very different, and exciting, GAA Championships, Euros, UEFA Women’s Euros, Wimbledon, Olympics (two medals in the bag already!), golf majors, a Tory wipeout, an assassination attempt, and potentially, USA’s first female President – what a month!
And here we go into August, where the news cycle will no doubt be dominated by the US election and the Olympics! Fingers crossed for the Irish Olympians, we already have one in the bag!
Nice to see that the Aer Lingus strike has ended reasonably quickly; no great compensation for those who had flights cancelled or spent weeks worrying about their travel plans of course.
Was your company affected by the major IT outage at Microsoft? Scary to think how such a relatively small error can cause global carnage. Once again, airports and flights topped the list of those affected. In our naivete, we here at PeopleSource always thought that the point of the cloud was that everything was backed up with multiple points of access, but what do we know?
It appears as if the WFH craze has bottomed out with BNP Paribas Real Estate reporting the strongest take up of new office space for 10 quarters. Backing up a steadying of the economy is the news (to which we can attest) that job vacancies have remained steady in Q2, for the first time in two years.
Contrasting fortunes for two of Ireland’s iconic businesses with Penneys showing bumper profits while Ryanair’s share price took a pasting after it reported a 46% drop in profits for Q1. (Look out for some bargain airfares in the coming weeks as Ryanair will undoubtedly meet the challenge head-on!)
Almost 80% of FDI decision makers are planning to invest in Ireland, according to the latest EY Attractiveness survey.
Finally, what’s going on in the world of Crypto? We are seeing a lot of potential stock piling, is this a thing?
With the Olympics on in the background and a cuppa by your side, check out these interesting links;
- Follow every athlete and every event with Olympics Ireland
- Backfill the quiet moments with a history of Ireland at the Olympics
- Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony in pictures
- Newtalk/Amarach research on top sporting moments of all time
- Galway Races schedule
- Family fun for National Heritage week – check out the steam train from Dublin to Kilkenny
A round-up of our survey results for the first half of the year for this month’s infographic. A lot of 50/50’s here, which tends to indicate the where we are with ‘change’ e.g. women’s sports, voice message usage. The pleasant surprise was the 90% of respondents consulted a recruitment consultant for a general market update. Trust your professional and we love it when you pick up the phone!
This month’s hot topic is prompted by a very interesting global workforce survey by PWC. The aptly-named Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2024 throws an interesting light on the ‘hopes and fears’ that are being generated by the same issue, change! Workers are seeing the possibilities of GenAI in terms of improving productivity and reducing time spent on mundane tasks. However, while they welcome advancements and upskilling opportunities the same workforce feels overwhelmed by the scale and pace of change.
The challenge is, how can you as leaders, or your organisations, balance the benefits which will accrue from new technologies, processes and systems while keeping your staff engaged and motivated (and not burned out by the pace of change)?
Change management and leadership will be skills much in demand in the years ahead. Keeping the workforce focussed on the ‘prize’ while effecting change, keeping people motivated and making them part of the journey. If you don’t have these skills to date, it might be worth looking at acquiring them, ideally internally in your organisation by putting yourself forward for the next project!
There is only one place to start this section, and that is with the sad passing of one of Ireland’s best writers, Edna O’Brien. Practically run out of Ireland in the 60’s due to the ‘scandalous’ nature of her first novel, The Country Girls, she became a literary giant, lauded on the global stage. If you have never read it, please read The Country Girls and remind yourself that the book was banned, burned and (of course) denounced from the pulpit. The BBC were out quickly with a comprehensive and complimentary obituary.
One of Ireland’s genuine A-list stars Saoirse Ronan could always be described as low-key, both in her private life, and in her performances, she is a consummate professional who is never flashy or attention seeking. No surprise then that a few days ago she and her Scottish actor boyfriend, Jack Lowden, secretly got married in Edinburgh. Good luck to them both.
Summer season for movies means lots of kids’ movies and Marvel-type blockbusters, but perhaps you could spend an evening in the theatre over the coming weeks, and if you only see one play, catch Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa at the Gate, truly a seminal piece of work. We’ve also just noticed a central theme of our Entertainment section this month, the very best of Irish Womanhood!
So much to comment on, and cross our fingers for in July/August. Let’s start with a note of congratulations for Leona Maguire who became the first ever Irish lady to win on the European Tour. Along with the disappointed Lowry and McIlroy (after the Open) and Stephanie Meadow, they’ll be turning their attention to the Olympics where all four are realistic medal hopes.
Only last month, we were describing the GAA Championships as having ‘failed to ignite’; well what a difference a month makes, with the semi-finals in both competitions throwing up finals that few would have put money on. Lovely to see some ‘new’ faces in Croker and fair play to all four teams as both Champions, Clare and Armagh triumphed by the smallest possible margins. It was gas reading all the comments on X from the BBC viewers!
A quick, pre-Olympics round-up; well done to Spain on winning the Euros (fair and square), and Krejcikova and Alcaraz, for winning Wimbledon. We’ll wrap up with a nod to the horsey set, half of whom will be gearing up for the Galway Races while the other half eagerly await the Dublin Horse Show.
Congratulations to Mona McSharry & Daniel Wiffen - amazing achievements, fingers crossed for our Olympic hopefuls with a few already progressing to next rounds and finals. Rugby 7’s was a bit of a let down even before the opening ceremony but the ladies are still in the hunt. We have swimmers qualified for finals and sailors poised atop their leaderboard, rowers O’Donovan & McCarthy are definite medal hopes, and of course we all eagerly await the track and field. However, we will finish with two ‘backwater’ sports we enjoyed over the weekend. Firstly, watching Rhys McClenaghan on the pommel horse (genuine contender for a gold medal), that sport is just hypnotic, and then the badminton, where Nhat Nguyen battled hard for his first round win.
Sport is everywhere just now. Have you taken inspiration from those athletes out there doing what they love? Perhaps these times have you thinking about what else might be out there for you too?! Your challenge? Well, maybe your next big challenge, your ‘personal best’ is right here;
Contact rtubridy@peoplesource.ie for more information or Rachel on 086 662 9674
Each month we ask our readers to answer a question for a chance to win €100 One4all voucher.
Our question for the June newsletter was:
Do you think the outcome of the UK election will have any meaningful impact for Ireland?
Yes - 46%
No - 54%
Once again we had a close call in last month’s poll and we can’t help wondering of people feel differently now following the Tory wipeout. Early indications certainly are that doing business on these islands (political and commercial) has already gotten a lot easier, and relationships warmer.
And the winner of our €100 voucher is – Orlaith Hyland – we’ll be in touch!
Our question for the July newsletter is:
Are you planning to move outside of your company in the next 12 months?
Yes
No
The winner will be chosen at random and will receive a €100 One4All voucher. Enter here to be in with a chance to win.
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PeopleSource is a specialist finance & accounting recruitment firm
