Ireland: paid workforce

According to the research project Hidden Landscape, First Forays into Mapping Non Profit Organisations in Ireland in 2006, there are a total of 40,003 full-time employees working in Irish non-profits. Half of these organisations had five full-time employees or less. The research also reveals that two to one full time employees are females. Women also outnumber men in part time staff with a ratio of four to one.

In 2008, The Wheel, the biggest umbrella organisations in the Irish non profit panorama, published the first comprehensive national survey to cover the state of pay and benefit in the Irish third sector. The survey, Pay & Benefits Survey of community, voluntary and charitable organisations, is based on a sample of 317 organisations and reveals that the sector is characterized by flexible working arrangements, with eight out of ten organisations (80%) providing part-time work and almost six out of ten organisations (59%) providing personalised hours. 

Despite the flexibility in work conditions, the survey indicates that recruiting staff is very difficult for non profits. Around one in eight organisations (13%) have had difficulties retaining staff over the past 12 months and that, according to organisations, the main reason for this have been the sector’s low salaries.