The number of people working in Ireland is at a record high at just over 2.8 million, official figures show, writes Christian McCashin.
Unemployment also increased, by 10,100 to 151,000, but 20,000 new jobs were added in the past year.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “The results highlight the continued resilience of our labour market in the face of significant uncertainty in the global economy, with employment reaching a new record high of 2.84million.
“Over 20,000 jobs have been added over the past year, while the unemployment rate remained low at 4.9% in the second quarter.
“At the same time, we know that the world of work is changing.
"Technological change – and particularly the rapid development and deployment of AI – is already reshaping the nature of work in Ireland and we must ensure that our workforce is equipped with the skills to take advantage.”
The figures also show a drop in the number of people working from home – from just over a million 12 months ago to 990,600 in April, May and June.
At the same time, those who never work from home rose by 43,800, or 2.4%, to 1,839,400.
HR expert Caroline Reidy, of business consultants NFP Ireland, said: “This shift reflects the growing return-to-office trend, whereby employers are increasingly encouraging employees to spend more time in the office.
“That said, some of this shift may also be being driven by job losses in sectors that rely heavily on remote and hybrid working, such as professional, scientific and technical services, where employment fell by over 17,000 in the year to Q2 2026, so it isn’t a straightforward story of employer policy alone.”
The largest increase in employment by economic sector was in education, which rose by 14,200 people, up 5.9%.
The largest decline in employment was recorded in professional, scientific and technical activities, down by 17,100 people or 8.2%.
*This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.