Rate of Vulnerable Employment in Ireland Rose by Over 60% Between 2009 and 2021, EuroFound Report Finds
A new report from EuroFound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, has found that the rate of vulnerable employment in Ireland increased by more than 60% between 2009 and 2021, with approximately 21.1% of Irish jobs classified as vulnerable by 2021 — a rate that exceeds the EU average of 18.8%. The report identifies employment insecurity, specifically involuntary temporary and part-time work, as the primary driver of this precarity, rather than a lack of formal workplace rights or protections.
Background
The concept of vulnerable employment encompasses a range of work arrangements that leave workers exposed to economic insecurity, including involuntary temporary contracts, involuntary part-time work, and forms of self-employment that lack the protections associated with standard employment relationships. The growth of what is sometimes called the "gig economy" — characterised by platform-based work, zero-hours contracts, and other non-standard arrangements — has been a significant driver of employment vulnerability in many European countries over the past decade.
Ireland's labour market has undergone significant structural changes since the financial crisis of 2008-2012. The collapse of the construction sector and the broader economic contraction led to a sharp increase in unemployment, which peaked at over 15% in 2012. The subsequent recovery was strong, with unemployment falling to record lows by the late 2010s, but the nature of the jobs created during the recovery period has been a subject of debate. Critics have argued that many of the new jobs were in low-wage, insecure sectors, while defenders of the recovery have pointed to the strong headline employment figures and the growth of high-value sectors such as technology and financial services.
EuroFound, which is based in Dublin and is one of the EU's key research agencies on employment and working conditions, has been tracking trends in employment quality across Europe for several decades. Its reports are widely used by policymakers, trade unions, and employers' organisations to inform debates about labour market regulation and social policy.
Key Developments
The EuroFound report, covered by The Irish Times on Wednesday, found that Ireland's rate of vulnerable employment — defined as the proportion of workers in jobs characterised by insecurity, inadequate income, or poor working conditions — rose from approximately 13% in 2009 to 21.1% in 2021, an increase of over 60%. This places Ireland above the EU average of 18.8% and significantly above countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany, which have lower rates of employment vulnerability despite having similarly flexible labour markets.
The report identifies involuntary temporary and part-time work as the primary driver of the increase in vulnerability, rather than a lack of formal workplace rights. This is a significant finding, as it suggests that the problem is not primarily one of inadequate legal protections — Ireland has relatively strong employment rights legislation — but of the structure of the labour market itself, which is generating a large number of jobs that workers would prefer not to be in but have little choice but to accept.
The sectors with the highest rates of vulnerable employment include hospitality, retail, and care work — sectors that are disproportionately staffed by women, young people, and migrant workers. The report notes that these groups are also the most likely to be affected by the cost-of-living crisis, as their lower and more variable incomes leave them with less capacity to absorb price increases.
Why It Matters
The EuroFound findings are a significant challenge to the narrative of Irish economic success that has dominated political discourse in recent years. While Ireland's headline employment figures are strong — unemployment is at historically low levels — the quality of employment is a different matter. A rate of vulnerable employment above the EU average, in a country that has experienced one of the strongest economic recoveries in Europe, suggests that the benefits of growth are not being shared equally. The comparison with Northern Ireland is instructive: while the North has its own labour market challenges, including lower wages and higher rates of economic inactivity, the structure of its labour market — with a larger public sector and stronger trade union presence in key industries — may provide some protection against the kind of precarity documented in the EuroFound report. For policymakers in Dublin, the report is a reminder that economic growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition for improving the living standards of all workers.
Local Impact
The impact of vulnerable employment is felt most acutely in Dublin, Cork, and other urban centres where the cost of living is highest and where the gap between the wages of precarious workers and the cost of housing, childcare, and other essentials is most pronounced. In Dublin, where rents have risen sharply in recent years, workers on temporary or part-time contracts often struggle to secure rental accommodation, as landlords prefer tenants with permanent employment and stable incomes. In Cork and Galway, similar dynamics are at play, with the growth of the technology and pharmaceutical sectors creating high-wage jobs alongside a large number of lower-wage, more precarious positions in the service industries that support them. SIPTU and ICTU have called on the government to use the EuroFound findings as a basis for strengthening employment rights legislation and improving enforcement of existing protections.
What's Next
The EuroFound report is expected to inform the government's deliberations on employment policy in the run-up to the 2027 Budget. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has indicated that the government is committed to improving the quality of employment in Ireland, and has pointed to recent measures including the introduction of the right to request remote working and improvements to sick pay entitlements as evidence of this commitment. Trade unions have called for more ambitious action, including a ban on zero-hours contracts, stronger protections for agency workers, and increased resources for the Workplace Relations Commission to enforce employment rights. A government review of employment legislation is expected to be published before the end of 2026.
