More Irish professionals returning home, survey finds
Irish professionals are returning from abroad in greater numbers, according to a new survey.
Well over half of companies (56%) surveyed reported that they had hired returning Irish nationals in 2017, up from 47% in 2016.
The 2018 Abrivia Recruitment/TCD Salary, Employment and Economic Trends Survey, conducted among over 7,400 clients and 45,000 employees from multiple industry sectors, also found that the shortage of rental accommodation is having an impact, however, with 47% of employers saying that it was impacting on their ability to hire staff, up from 40% in the previous survey.
The cost of purchasing a home also continues to impact, with 37% citing it as a major issue in recruiting staff in 2017, up from 27% in 2016.
Some 48% od respondents said that they would accept a decrease of 1-3% in their salary to move outside of Dublin, while 46% said they would require a salary increase of more than 21% to move to Dublin.
Donal O’Brien, managing director, Abrivia Recruitment, said:“85% of employers surveyed plan to take on new staff in 2018 with salaries in IT and Finance pulling far ahead of other sectors. In line with the general trend of staff shortages in key areas, 64% of employers have employed a non-Irish applicant based outside Ireland in the past 12 months, up from 58% in the previous survey.”
“84% of employers expect salaries to increase in 2018 but at a more modest rate than last year, less than 3%. This contrasts with employee expectations, 73% of whom are expecting a salary increase this year and well over one third of those (37%) are looking forward to a pay increase of between 5 and 10%,” Donal continued.
Professor Brian Lucey commented: “In economic terms 2018 is going to be a very interesting year for Ireland.
“We will finally see the extent to which the United Kingdom is willing to concede the existence of reality, negotiated seriously around an exit agreement from the European Union that preserves economic common sense. This will not be possible of course until the Tory Party Civil War finishes and as it has lasted for at least 40 years, we shouldn’t hold our breath.
“Without a shadow of a doubt Brexit remains the largest single cloud on the economic horizon. To ignore its reality, as many companies have been prone to do, is simply not an option.”
