Rumours of the demise of the Irish economy have been greatly exaggerated, according to Jason Kennedy, global CEO of Irish-owned Grafton Employment Group.

The Morgan McKinley Irish Employment Monitor for November shows that compared to 2010, 46% of managers across the finance, technical, office support and IT functions in Ireland feel more positive about the economic outlook for 2011.

The monitor also reveals that while the volume of professional job vacancies in Ireland decreased by 5% month-on-month in November 2010, the figure was a 34% increase when compared to the same time in November 2009.

Meanwhile, the number of professionals beginning their job search in Ireland held quite steady in November, with a minimal 1% drop from October and a 2% increase year-on-year from November 2009.

Kennedy told Recruiter: “The underlying economy is actually quite upbeat, but we do have a significant banking crisis because of the property crash that masks the underlying economic trends. People are still hiring and acquiring talent, but that doesn’t make front page news.”

Brian Murphy, Premier Group Ireland chief executive, also told Recruiter that a brain drain of Irish talent had not materialised either.

“We are not experiencing a brain drain. The top people are always in demand even if the marketplace and the economy might be challenged, we still can’t find enough of the best people to satisfy client demand.

“We are certainly not seeing the brightest and best leaving the country. There are areas where we have seen people at all levels moving with the particular industry being closed here and I would be referring to construction.

“There have been a lot of good people taking work abroad because the work isn’t here at the moment. We have seen architects, surveyors heading to the Middle East and London, for the building of the Olympic village for 2012. But other than that, nothing that you would call statistically relevant in other areas.”