. 70% of survey respondents agreed that bargaining for services is now easier
. Over half said there is less pressure to “Keep up with the Joneses”
. Half of those surveyed are optimistic about the future and the majority of respondents feel that recovery will take place in early 2011

Commenting on the results Emma Henry, Marketing Manager RecruitIreland.com said;

“This survey shows how resilient we are as a nation. It is refreshing to see that people can see some positives”

However, it seems that very few can escape the impact of the recession, 81% of the jobseekers surveyed have seen their jobs impacted in some way and 33% of those surveyed have actually been made redundant.

Other key findings are as follows;

. 35% have had a reduction in salary and over half of those have also seen reduced working hours
. 31% feel that their careers are on hold for the moment, some even feel that their careers have taken a step back. According to one respondent;

“Yes, I was made redundant in my career. I had worked hard to get to where I was and now I have to take a step back about 5 years just so I can get a job!”

. 16% are taking the opportunity to invest in further training
. 14% have actually benefited from the recession through promotion as the result of a job freeze or are benefiting from increased experience through job sharing
. 8% are taking the opportunity to start their own business

“It is particularly heartening to see that our entrepreneurial spirit is still flourishing with over 8% of respondents setting up their own businesses” Commented Emma Henry

“Pressure to keep up with the Joneses, however, has been replaced with the pressure to get or keep a job and there is no downplaying the stress this can cause.

In an effort to help ease this stress a little RecruitIreland.com has been running a campaign offering free jobs advertising to all Irish employers until September. The objective is to provide a one stop shop online for jobseekers.

To date the campaign has been a great success and we now have over 450 employers supporting the campaign and advertising their job vacancies on the site.”