The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has released a new report, entitled: COVID-19 – Our Lives Five Years On: Impact on Employment, and Earnings, 2025.
It examines the progress made across key economic factors since the beginning of the pandemic. They are: employment, earnings and air travel.
It is the second in a series of planned CSO releases to mark the impact of the pandemic on Irish society and its economy five years after its onset.
Employment in Ireland is up by 605,100 (28pc), to 2,766,400, since Covid-19’s low-point in Q2 2020, when 2,161,300 people were employed.
Just under 1.5 million people availed of government Covid-19 related support payments during the Covid-19 period. In April 2020, over one million people received Covid-19 income support.
Youth employment (15–24-year-olds) had the sharpest decline, down over 25pc between Q4 2019 and Q2 2020. Employment recovered to pre-pandemic levels for all age groups by Q3 2021.
The largest fall in employment was in the accommodation and food services sector, where employment fell 38pc between Q4 2019 and Q2 2020, or by 68,700.
The next largest decrease was in administrative and support services (-22.3pc) over the same period, or by 25,000 people.
Two economic sectors, financial, insurance and real estate as well as information and communication, saw no decline in employment during the pandemic.
In terms of recovery, most sectors returned to their Q4 2019 levels of employment between Q1 2021 and Q3 2021.
This was with the exception of administrative and support services as well as accommodation and food services, where numbers in employment did not recover to pre-pandemic levels until Q3 2022 and Q3 2023, respectively.
Meanwhile, In the five years to Q4 2024, average hourly earnings increased by 24.7pc from €24.23 to €30.21, according to the CSO data.
The smallest percentage increase was in transportation and storage (8.5pc) and the largest increase was seen in information and communications (35.3pc).
Average hourly total labour costs also rose across all sectors in this five-year period and are now 26pc above their pre-pandemic Q4 2019 level.
With regards to air travel in the country, it took approximately 34 months for passenger numbers to bounce back to pre-pandemic figures.
In April 2020, Ireland saw just 25,286 passengers pass through Irish airports, which was 99pc lower than April 2019. This was due to a stay-at-home order banning all non-essential travel.
There were 98,127 passengers handled in February 2021, which was a reduction of 95.8pc on February 2020, one month before the pandemic hit Ireland.
In April last year, however, Ireland’s main airports saw 3,380,921 passengers pass through. But it was August 2022 before a single month achieved 90pc of its pre-pandemic passenger handling figure (4,018,066 in August 2019 compared with 3,608,290 in August 2022).
It was January 2023 before a single month surpassed its pre-pandemic levels, 2,417,073 in January 2023, compared with 2,388,377 in January 2020.
The most recent aviation statistics for Q4 and Year 2023 show that more than 39.2 million people used Ireland’s five main airports in 2023.
This was the highest number of passengers recorded since 2013, marking a major post-Covid bounce back for Irish air travel.
Air Transport employees increased from less than 10pc of those claiming Government income supports in March 2020 to over more than 25pc by April 2022.
Kevin Empey, International Head of Future of Work Strategy and Solutions at Lockton said five years on from Covid-19, the workplace “continues to evolve as employers and employees navigate the lasting impact of the pandemic”.
“Already in 2025 we have seen a marked increase in calls for more in-person attendance in office-based organisations, the shift highlights growing tensions between traditional work structures and the flexible, employee-centric policies that have gained traction in recent years,” he said.
Mr Empey cited flexibility, work-life balance, and well-being as “core employee expectations”, not perks.
“These trends were already emerging before the pandemic, and reversing them entirely is unlikely. Employers who fail to offer some level of flexibility risk losing talent to competitors that do,” he said.
“Now more than ever businesses are grappling with rising costs, including statutory sick pay, auto-enrolment pensions, and increased PRSI contributions, leading some to reconsider the long-term sustainability of flexible work policies.
“But while industries like investment banking maintain traditional, in-office cultures, most sectors now require flexibility to attract and retain top talent. Leading companies are embracing gig workers, contractors, and global talent to boost agility and productivity,” he said.
“The future of work will depend on how well businesses balance flexibility, financial sustainability, and evolving workforce expectations. With new generations entering the workforce and AI transforming job design, workplace evolution is set to continue.”
