The latest snapshot of senior recruitment activity in the Irish nonprofit sector shows a significant slowdown in the number of roles advertised, indicating that the backlog from the pandemic has been cleared. 

There was a total of 219 senior roles identified by 2into3’s analysis of the market for Q2 of 2023, down from 270 from the same period last year, a 19% drop. These roles were advertised by 168 nonprofit organisations, down from 186 in 2022, a drop of 10%. 

 

 

 

Social Services organisations, at 30%, represented the largest subsector in terms of activity, followed by Health (17%) and Local Development & Housing (16%). The remaining 37% of the roles were between 9 other subsectors.

Roles by Subsector

There were some significant shifts recorded in the number of roles advertised in the different subsectors, with Social Services, Local Development & Housing, and Health all showing significant fall-off. Large percentage increases were recorded in a number of areas, but these were mostly coming from a very low base, although International and Advocacy, Law & Politics roles did see a good upward movement.

It is interesting to note the reduction in Local Development & Housing roles, after a sustained period of growth and with such demand for their services. The same could also be said for the Health subsector, although that could possibly be explained as a post-COVID settling down.

Income Breakdown

As is often the case when we gather this data, there was a fairly even split in terms of the size of organisations recruiting senior roles. Where income data was available, 25% of organisations had income of over €10M per annum, while 26% had income below the €1M level.

Role Functions

When looking at the types of roles being advertised, there was a certain level of consistency versus Q2 2022 in percentage terms, with a few exceptions.

Summary / Observations

So, what does April, May and June tell us about nonprofit recruitment in 2023? As mentioned above, it does look like pandemic-related activity has finally worked its way through the data and activity is returning to the levels seen before mid-2020.

We are still seeing a lot of the market activity being driven by a small number of subsectors, but this is relatively normal and to be expected. What does look interesting and will be worth tracking in the second half of the year is whether the downward movement for large subsectors such as housing and health is maintained, or if other areas show any significant movement.

For more information on our previous Nonprofit Talent Trends, visit here, or contact our Director of Talent Management, Fergal O’Sullivan.

The latest data from 2into3’s Nonprofit Talent Trends shows a slight drop in both the number of organisations and the number of roles being advertised in the first three months of the year. A 9% drop was noted for both: 245 roles (down from 269) and 176 organisations (down from 193) year-on-year. 

Subsector Activity 

Activity across the different subsectors was varied, with increased activity seen in the following areas: 

• Education & Research, up 33% from 9 to 12. 
• International, up 47% from 15 to 22. 
• Philanthropy & Voluntarism, up 33% from 6 to 8. 
• Advocacy, Law & Politics, up 45% from 11 to 16. 

Decreased activity was noted in the following subsectors: 

• Local Development & Housing, down 37% from 43 to 27. 
• Social Services, down 7% from 83 to 77. 
• Health, down 27%, from 63 to 46. 
• Environment, down 71% from 7 to 2. 
• Professional & Vocational, down 18%, from 11 to 9. 

• Arts, Culture & Media down 22%, from 9 to 7. 

Two subsectors, Recreation & Sport and Religion, saw no change, with 2 and 4 roles respectively. 

Social Services and Health led the way in terms of who is recruiting, making up just over half of all active organisations. Advocacy, Law & Politics and Local Development & Housing organisation accounted for 10% each. 

Organisational Size 

Organisational size, based on annual income (where data was available) was evenly spread; 31% of recruiting organisations had annual income of less than €1 million, while 38% had annual income of over €10M, with 31% in between these two figures. 

 

Role Types 

Service Delivery & Operational Management accounted for 43% of all roles advertised, followed by Fundraising & Business Development with 22%.  

 Year-on-year, there were significant falls in the number of Service Delivery & Operational Management roles (down 41), as well as Communications & Marketing (down 16), while Finance and Fundraising and Business Development positions both increased by 12 versus 2022. 

The share of jobs by role type has seen some changes, with Finance roles accounting for 12% of those recorded, versus just 6% last year and HR accounting for 5%, up from a 1% share in 2022.  

Communications & Marketing roles, however, dropped for 10% of all recorded in 2022 to just 4% this year. 

 

Observations 

Looking at the data, it is clear that, even with the overall reduction in roles advertised, the market for talent remains strong, and ahead of where it stood pre-pandemic.  

Activity levels vary across the different subsectors, however, so there is no single trend that can be identified for the whole sector, with 4 areas increasing and 6 others decreasing. 

Likewise, the types of roles do not show any consistent movement in a particular direction, so it will be interesting to see how the remainder of 2023 works out.  

 

If our own experience in 2into3 is any indicator, the challenging and competitive market for talent shows no sign of easing, with the number of active jobseekers still below levels seen before COVID. This means a lot more work is required by those hiring to find the best candidates, even to make them aware of the opportunity.  

 

Contact Us

If you have any queries around these findings, or would like to find out more, contact our Director of Talent Management Services, Fergal O’Sullivan.

The impact of COVID-19 on senior nonprofit recruitment seems to be working its way through the system, based on 2into3’s latest snapshot of roles being advertised. The final quarter of 2022 saw a decline of 29% in the number of roles advertised, falling from 271 in Q4 2021 to 193 in Q4 2022. This three-month period saw what appears to have been a backlog of roles advertised in both 2020 and 2021 but has now fallen back to a level closer to the pre-pandemic level of activity.  

 

 

The number of organisations advertising these senior vacancies also fell at a similar rate (down 23% versus the same period in the previous year: 197 versus 151). 

 

Subsectors 

Looking at the different subsectors, where such information was available (some roles are advertised anonymously), there were some significant shifts in activity levels, most notably in Health, which saw a 41% drop in roles (from 46 in Q4 2021 to 27 in Q4 2022). As with the overall trend, this could be the spike of health-related roles during the pandemic working through the data. 

Other subsectors saw larger percentage drops, but these were from a much smaller base (e.g., Philanthropy & Voluntarism dropping from 16 to 6 (down 63%) or Professional & Vocational roles halving, from 16 to 8 over the same period. 

Some subsector showed little or no changes, including Religion, Recreation & Sport and Arts, Culture & Media. This latter subsector was one of only three that showing an increase in the number or roles advertised (Education & Research and Environment being the other two). 

 

Functions 

 It is also worth noting the role types that were in demand in Q4 2022, and some of the shifts that took place versus the same period in 2021. 

 

For most of the core role types that we track, while the totals were lower, the percentage of overall roles was reasonably consistent. The main exception to this would be CEO / Executive Director roles which fell from 12% of positions advertised to 7% year-on-year. 

 Overall, Service Delivery & Operational Management roles remained the largest type advertised, representing 53% of all roles in 2022 versus 52% in 2021. 

 

Summary 

What does this latest set of figures tell us about recruitment for senior roles in the nonprofit sector? It would appear that COVID-related peaks and troughs are reduced, or completely gone at this point, although the data for the first quarter of 2023 will be interesting. 

Anecdotally, our own experience in 2into3 was a brief quiet period in the final quarter of 2022, relative to the last 2-3 years, but this has been replaced by a sudden burst of activity in the immediate period post-Christmas. Whether this was related to budgets, new plans for the new year, or other factors, is hard to define, but if this initial trend continues, and our tracking of advertised roles is certainly showing an increased level of activity, we may well see another increase for Q1 2023. 

The recruitment market remains tight and active jobseekers remain thin on the ground, so targeting potential candidates is a large part of our work right now, as it has been for a while now.  If you are experiencing your own challenges in recruiting for senior level roles in your organisation and would like to discuss further, you can contact Fergal O’Sullivan, Head of Recruitment Practice in 2into3 at (01) 574-0026. 

Undoubtedly, we are still seeing a shift in the employment market to that of a ‘buyers’. In March of this year, Charities Institute recorded that 79% of organisations were struggling to hire, as there is an oversaturation of roles on offer in the sector. Increasingly, nonprofits find their talent being poached by the corporate organisation with a higher profile, higher pay, better pensions and employment guarantee. ‘When Charity Staff leave an organisation, 62% move out of the charity sector altogether’. Restricted funded organisation, the likes of section 39’s, find themselves losing staff due to better benefits elsewhere. Rising Inflation prices are also a consistent concern that is being felt across sectors. According to the Irish Times, ‘Prices in Ireland rose an estimated 9.6 per cent in the year to July’. With inflation, security and burnout becoming increasingly prevalent worries for staff, do organisations need to start putting emphasis on other non-monetary supports, such as non-paid benefits? 

Staff Retention and Non-Paid Benefits

In the wake of the 2008 Recession, employees working in the nonprofit sector, along with other sectors in the economy, experienced pay cuts and/or pay freezes, worked shorter hours and/or took on extra work for reduced pay. HSE funded organisations saw a funding-cut that has seen organisations recovering to only 70% of pre-recession funds. Staff were left feeling undervalued, underpaid and with a lack of career progression. This caused unforeseen difficulties for organisations, despite their team’s dedication to the mission, they struggled to retain staff due to budget cuts. With inflation on the rise and economic advisors throwing around the word ‘recession’, we can learn from here to get our cards in order in a proactive manner to protect both our organisations and staff. 

Flexibility in Post- Covid Working Environment

In analysis of The Community Foundation’s National Guide to pay and benefits in community, voluntary & charitable sector 2019, some obvious areas for consideration are apparent. ‘Flexibility’, is an element of the report in a post-covid working environment that can be easily addressed by your organisation. Remote and Hybrid policies are essential for providing work/life balance to staff. Though it may seem like an obvious standard to have in place, many companies are enforcing return to work policies. It is important to ask the following questions before proceeding with enforcing new policies. Would your staff prefer to work from home or have flexible working hours instead? Could you offer more days of annual leave to your staff? Do you offer income protection, death in service or have sick leave policy in place that is higher than the statutory amount? Do you offer a pension contribution to all staff or just the most senior of the team?  

There are also certain statutory requirements that could be considered non-paid benefits that your team aren’t aware of. If you have a human resource function, this could be easily bridged by explaining, for example, how to avail of a tax saver public transport ticket or how to get onto the bike to work scheme. If you have a generous maternity or paternity leave policy in place or provide service leave for long standing staff, are your employees or candidates aware of this? Do you provide any educational assistance in the form of study leave or monetary assistance to any or all staff? Could you provide a lower pension contribution to junior staff at 2% to help all staff with long- term financial planning? 

Reflecting on Your Organisations’ Benefits

As The Wheel & The Community Foundation for Ireland compile their most recent research into the non-paid benefits of the nonprofit sector for 2022, it is as good a time as ever to question your organisation’s benefits and career progression structures. What are your staff struggling with and which non-paid benefits are they seeking? Is your organisation large enough to have a Human Resources function? If not, do your board members have capacity to provide that support to staff? Do you provide a career mentor service to younger staff for career progression?  

In response to funding uncertainty, you could provide pay scales, simplify pay structures or introduce a Service Award e.g. a payment after ‘x’ number of years to help retain staff. For staff morale, you could introduce ‘staff away’ days or include a staff wellness programme. For attracting junior staff, could you introduce a graduate programme or offer links with third level institutions.  

The two most important takeaways are: to consider your staff and their needs, and be creative in how to support them within your financial limits. In placing your team, however big or small, at the forefront of your organisational culture, you will undoubtedly see more staff retention and attraction of talent. Job insecurity, burnout and inflation are going nowhere anytime soon and non—paid benefits will continue to be at the centre of candidate’s minds where salary no longer becomes the most important element of contract discussions. 

For more information on staff retention, visit our recent ‘Recruitment and Retention’ event summary, or if you’re interested in expanding your team, contact Fergal O’Sullivan for further details on senior recruitment.

The latest data from the 2into3 Nonprofit Talent Trends for the second quarter of 2022 shows that recruitment of senior nonprofit roles continues to grow and to rebound from the impact of the pandemic.

Analysis by Subsector

For the period April – June, we recorded 270 management level roles advertised in Ireland, an increase of 21% on the 244 for the same period last year. The number of organisations recruiting rose by 17% (186, up from 159).

Where data was available, we noted that organisations within the Social Services subsector were most active with almost half (49.4%) of all roles advertised. The closest subsectors to them were Health (16.9%) and Local Development & Housing (13.4%). The remaining 20% of organisations were within the remaining 9 subsectors.

The number of Social Services roles grew by 72% versus 2021, but this was outstripped by those in the International sector, which saw growth of 183%, albeit from a low base (17, up from 6). A number of subsectors saw a drop in the number of roles advertised however, including Philanthropy & Volunteerism (down 71%), Professional & Vocational (down 93%) and Recreation & Sport which dropped form 2 roles last year to zero in Q2 2022.

When looking at the different job functions that were advertised, it appears that finance roles are in high demand; the number of such roles advertised almost doubled year-on year, from 5% of the total in 2021 to 9% this year.

Service Delivery & Operational Management remain the most popular role types however, accounting for 51% of all roles, down slightly from their 54% share for the same period last year. CEO / Executive Director roles were less popular, relatively speaking, accounting for 6% of the total versus 14% in 2021.

Conclusions on Q2 2022

It is not surprising to see a continued rebound form the low points of the pandemic, but as the impact of COVID starts to work its way out of the figures, the coming months will be interesting to see if the trends we have seen in recent snapshots continues. Demand for talent certainly remains high, if our experience in 2into3 is anything to go by; whether this can be matched by a supply of talented nonprofit professionals looking for a new challenge is the burning question.

 

For more information on our previous Nonprofit Talent Trends, visit our page. If you have any queries on our findings, contact Fergal O’Sullivan.