WEALTH November 10, 2025 0 Comments

Uncover the Shocking Salary Truths New Grads Don’t Want You to Know—Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

Ever wondered why new entrants to the workforce keep grabbing our attention with their paycheck headlines? Last year, these fresh hires made up a solid 8% of all employment—and their weekly paychecks didn’t just sit still. They jumped a noticeable 6.3%, outpacing the overall employment pay bump of 4.5%. Now, before you start thinking everyone’s rolling in dough, remember: their median weekly earnings, while growing from €403.08 to €428.58, still sit nearly 70% below the average earner’s €730.89. And the gap between men and women in this cohort? A whopping 37% difference favoring males. Curious what sectors are driving these numbers and why younger Irish nationals seem to shape the scene so uniquely? Buckle up—let’s dive into the numbers behind the paychecks and uncover what’s really fueling these shifts in Ireland’s employment landscape. LEARN MORE

New entrants accounted for 8% of all employment last year as weekly pay among the grouping increased 6.3%, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The median weekly earnings of new entrants to the Irish employment market rose from €403.08 to €428.58 last year, 70% lower than the overall average (€730.89).

In terms of sex, median weekly earnings among new entrant male employments (€489.08) were 37.% higher than their female counterparts (€356.88).

The increase in pay for new entrants outpaced pay growth across total employments in 2024 (4.5%).

The highest median weekly earnings among new entrant employments were recorded in the information & communication sector (€1,013.62), followed by employments in professional, scientific & technical activities (€640.88) and industry (€580.73).

Employments among new entrants in administrative & support services recorded the largest increase in median weekly earnings in 2024 at 6.8%, while those in both financial, insurance & real estate (-1.6%) and professional, scientific & technical activities (-3.9%) recorded a decrease in weekly earnings.

The lowest median weekly earnings among new entrant employments in 2024 were recorded for the arts, rntertainment, recreation & other services (€264.19) and accommodation & food services (€285.55) sectors.

Human health & social work was the only economic sector in which new entrant employments among females (€584.44) recorded higher median weekly earnings compared with their male counterparts (€553.99). A similar trend was observed in previous years.

By economic sector, accommodation & food services took the largest share of entrants at 21% ahead of wholesale & retail (18.5%) and human health & social work (12.1%).

Again, accommodation & food services had the largest share of employments represented by new entrants at 19.4% while just 1.8% of people employed in public administration & defence were new in 2024.

Two in five new entrants (42.5%) were Irish in nationality while 9% were Indian, 5.1% were Ukrainian and 4.5% were Brazilian.

Again, more than two in five new entrants (40.6%) were aged 15-24, rising to two-thirds (64.5%) among new entrants of Irish nationality.

“Of the nationalities individually listed in this analysis, Irish nationals were the only nationality cohort where the proportion of new entrants aged 15-24 years was larger than that aged 25-64 years,” said Dr Eimear Heffernan, statistician in the earnings analysis division of the CSO.

“This is likely to have an impact on the average earnings among new entrant employments recorded for Irish nationals compared with their non-Irish counterparts.”

“The age profile of new entrants had an impact on the economic sector in which they were employed. A larger proportion of employments among new entrants aged 15-24 years (27.5%) were recorded in the Wholesale & Retail Trade sector, compared with those aged 25-64 years (12.3%) in 2024,” she added.

“In contrast, 4.7% of employments among new entrants aged 15-24 years were recorded in Human Health & Social Work, compared with 17.3% of employments among new entrants aged 25-64 years.”

In 2024, new entrant employments among Irish nationals aged 15-24 years recorded median weekly earnings of €209.03, compared with weekly earnings of €428.84 among their non-Irish counterparts.

Employment Earnings — Pay for new entrants to the employment market rose 6.3% last year.

More than half (55%) of the 2023 new entrant cohort were recorded in the same primary employment in 2024, while a further 21.4% were in a different primary employment.

The annual increase in median weekly earnings (13.2%) tended to be least among those who stayed in their primary employment, rising from €450.75 in 2023 to €510.11 in 2024, while those who changed employment recorded an increase of 40%.

(Pic: Getty Images)