Undaunted by the current political stalemate, Irish employers are expecting to increase staffing levels in the second quarter of this year.

In its latest employment outlook survey, Manpower’s Irish subsidiary said employers were reporting a net employment outlook - the percentage of employers anticipating an increase - of 5 per cent for April to June period.

This maintained what the recruiter described as the “cautiously optimistic forecast” previously reported for the first quarter of the year.

The survey, which is based on a sample of 620 Irish employers, found that staffing levels across 10 of the 11 sectors surveyed were reporting growth for the second quarter.

The restaurant and hotels sector forecasted the strongest year on year growth out all of the 11 sectors evaluated, up 28 percentage points on the same period last year with an employment outlook of 12 per cent.

Electricity, gas and water employers, meanwhile, reported the strongest hiring intentions for the quarter with an outlook metric of 19 per cent, the strongest level since 2008.

Agriculture, forestry and fishing employers were only group to register a negative outlook for the upcoming period.

On a regional basis, employers in Connaught reported the strongest hiring intentions while employers in Dublin maintained an unchanged positive outlook.

ManpowerGroup Ireland’s Cara O’Leary said the survey findings demonstrated a sustained level of employer confidence for the second quarter of the year.

She said the restaurant and hotels sector was benefitting from the number of new hotels being built in Dublin.

“ The expected growth in the pharmaceutical sector is also reinforced by a number of recent job announcements for the sector, including the creation of 200 jobs in Carlow by the US Pharma company MSD,” she added.