The National Employment Survey is a major workplace and earnings survey conducted by the Central Statistics Office. The first NES survey was conducted in 2003 and it became an annual survey in 2006. The CSO has decided to discontinue the annual frequency of the survey as of 2010.

The NES has been designed as an integrated survey that addresses issues of national interest, while simultaneously fulfilling requirements under EU law.
The survey provides detailed comparisons on the factors that influence individual employee earnings, such as economic sector of activity, occupation, educational attainment, age group, length of service and nationality, as well as other factors that go to explain differences in rates of hourly earnings. It provides valuable information on the structure and distribution of employee earnings in both the public and private sectors, covering all sectors of the economy.

Data is collected from a sample of employers and employees.
The information required was divided into that most suitable to collect from employers (e.g. earnings, hours worked, etc.) and information best supplied by individual employees (educational attainment, duration of employment, etc.).