Migration survey results - 3 in 4 job seekers would consider leaving Ireland

A couple of weeks ago, we surveyed 2,173 individuals from backgrounds including IT, accountancy and engineering, regarding migration from Ireland.  As promised, the key survey results are below:

• Three quarters of the professional workforce in Ireland said they would consider leaving in the next three years if the economic situation does not improve
• Over a third (35 per cent) of the survey’s respondents have left the country in the last three years for work – some to pursue an opportunity and others because they had no other option
• Some 27 per cent left for the UK, 22 per cent for another European country, 15 per cent for Australasia and 7 per cent for North America
• Three in five (62 per cent) of those who have moved away from Ireland believe the quality of life is better where they now reside
• When asked about employment prospects in Ireland, two thirds of the survey’s respondents are not confident they will improve within the next 3 years
• 81 per cent do not believe the Government’s Jobs Initiative will help improve their employment prospects

There appears to be a mismatch in the areas of employment the Irish Government are investing in and the skills that currently exist in the country. The Government's Jobs Initiative, although welcome, has not instilled confidence among professionals.

Some more stats regarding emirgation and confidence in the Irish jobs market...

• Hays conducted the same migration survey on construction workers 12 months ago and found 69 per cent were not confident the economy would improve.
• Now, in 2011, their pessimism had pushed this figure up to 76 per cent.
• Only 5 per cent of all professionals surveyed are very confident the Irish economic situation will improve within the next 3 years.

Perhaps this summer's anticipated heat wave could improve the situation. When Hays asked the emigrated professionals why they left Ireland, 14 per cent cited the weather. A desire to live in a warmer climate was particularly evident amongst accountants, 26 per cent of whom admitted climate had influenced their decision to move abroad.

The survey highlighted a disparity in the reasons people move from Ireland. As well as moving for the weather, accountancy professionals sought a better work-life balance and lifestyle.

Conversely, IT individuals were motivated to go for bigger salaries and to develop their career. For the most part, construction workers moved purely to get a job. 

The attraction of a warmer climate is always going to exist for accountants and other global qualification holders. However, it’s critical Ireland gives talented workers who have emigrated something to come back for - more jobs, competitive salaries and an improved economic situation.

Let us know what you think of these results by commenting below!

Ireland Inc - Still open for business

With all the negative publicity about Ireland Inc, it is easy to forget what Ireland has going for it at the moment. In an attempt to bring some positivity into the discourse I am going to argue why we should be optimistic about the future.

Ok, so everyone is going to suffer higher taxation and less money in the pocket over the next few years. However we can be thankful for the job the IDA has done and continues to do to bring Foreign Direct Investment in to Ireland, particularly from the United States. Ireland’s low corporation tax is one of the key drivers for companies to choose Ireland as their EMEA headquarters, but there are a number of reasons why they decide to stay here once they have come.

These include a growing competiveness due to the economic adjustment that is taking place reflected in reduced salaries and property prices. Salaries have reduced between 5-20% over the last 2 years and commercial property by a staggering 55%. Cost of living has also dropped, with consumer prices dropping by 1.7% in 2009.

Ireland has some of best people in the world. So what does that mean?! We are highly educated with sought after skills and technical knowledge that other countries simply can’t compete with. Feedback from the international business community is that businesses in Ireland have a strong work ethic and high productivity in comparison with other nations. Irish staff have also proved to be adaptable and flexible in testing times. In addition, we have a diverse workforce of many different nationalities with different language skills, which mean we are able to support European operations from Ireland.

Ireland is seen as a leader in promoting the green agenda and protecting business interests by having strong intellectual property protection.

Over the last 10 years Ireland’s infrastructure has undertaken an immense overhaul. We now have a road network to be proud of and finally, a second terminal at Dublin airport.

And there’s more…Of the worlds top 10 ICT companies, 7 chose Ireland as the hub to base themselves. We have 16 of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies operating here and over 50% of the worlds top banks have chosen Ireland as a base.

As long as Ireland’s Corporation Tax continues to be competitive at 12.5% we have a lot to be positive about. The multinational companies will continue to employ hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland, and provide capital and employment when times are tough. A few steps back, maybe, but we’ll stride again.

A career in recruitment for grads - how to get from 300 to 8!

We recently participated in the graduate careers day in the Smurfit Business School. I really enjoyed having a chance to chat with the students about their career hopes and expectations. The main reason we were at Smurfit was to talk to students interested in a career in recruitment and to tell them all about our grad programme and what Hays has to offer. We had six grads start with us recently and three of them had completed master’s degrees in Smurfit. We thought we might get a head start on next summer’s grad intake.

The day was a great success. There were four of us in attendance from Hays. Myself, our marketing exec Caroline Kelly, business manager Sean O’Kane and trainee consultant (Smurfit Graduate Siobhain Smyth). I’m certainly glad there were the four, because there was a lot of attention around our stand and it wasn’t because of free sweets! We were providing something a lot more useful: advice on CV preparation, interview preparation tips and sharing our market knowledge. The advice went down a storm.

It was fantastic to meet so many young people with lots of potential and enthusiasm and for me the best thing about the day was getting a chance to speak to the students about a career in recruitment. I started with Hays over ten years ago and love the excitement and challenge of the industry. For some it was the first time they’d considered recruitment as a career and for many after speaking with us they realised that it was a career that ticked all the right boxes for them: best-in-industry training, excellent career development opportunities, a world leader in our field in 25 countries. But most importantly the role of a recruitment consultant is one that truly gives you a fantastic well rounded grounding in business.

Our grad programme this year has already been a great triumph. We had six talented trainees start with us in August and they are doing fantastically well. Right now we are in the process of selecting another eight ambitious individuals to begin their career with us in January 2011. We’ve had an amazing response, hundreds of cvs and I’ve personally spoken with nearly 100 of these individuals. So what can you do to improve your chances of going from one of 300 applicants to being one of the final 8? What will make you stand out?

Top Tips

• Always know what you’re applying for. I found that some people I spoke with weren’t quite sure of what it was they’d applied for – obviously not good! So don’t blast your cv around to any job that has “grad” in the title.
• Make sure your cv is relevant for the job and of high quality and supply a cover letter for every job, it really makes a difference.
• Don’t assume. Do your research on the job. Too many people I spoke with thought that recruitment was solely a HR job and hadn’t properly researched and considered all the other aspects to the role.
• Enthusiasm: You need to convince us that you are committed to the job as a career and are excited about it, enthusiasm goes a long way.

September’s Media Buzz at Hays

This last month we've seen an influx of international journalists and media types around our office. We’ve had from Swiss Radio to French Television stations in! Why? Mostly to discuss job migration and the Irish jobs market. We’ve snapped a few photos of Paul O’Donnell, one of our senior recruitment managers, being interviewed on migration and Irish emigration for France 3. The glamorous life of recruitment in Hays!

Paul O'Donnell getting interviewed by France 3.

How this all came about…
In the summer we did a survey on migration in the construction industry, moreover, emigration from Ireland, which resulted in a report and press release which received considerable coverage in the Irish media.

At the start of September I received a call from a journalist in Switzerland, she worked for the highest rated radio show in the country on Radio Suisse Romande. She had found our story via independent.ie and travelled to Dublin to interview our senior recruiting experts on recent emigration from Ireland and the jobs market.

This was followed up by a call from a journalist who worked for Avenue de l'Europe on France 3, one of the French public service stations who also saw our story online and wanted to discuss the same topics emigration from Ireland and the jobs market. They arrived earlier this week with a crew of four and interviewed Paul O’Donnell who was the spokesperson for the migration survey.

If you are an Irish company wishing to increase trade internationally, don’t underestimate the global reach of the local media with a strong PR story.

IT skills in demand in Ireland

The last 6 months has seen a large number of announcements from the IDA in relation to the creation of new jobs in the Information Technology sector. Some of these come from established companies including IBM, SAP, Google, telfonica o2, Citrix, Servicesource, AOL and Hewlett Packard whilst others come from newcomers to Ireland including Riot Games, MFG.com, Electronic Arts, Webroot and Lumension.

In 2010 we have seen a significant increase in demand for IT contractors, mainly from IT Consultancy based companies who are now getting the opportunity to bid for contracts in the Public Service and Financial Services sectors – a major shift from 12 months ago. Permanent recruitment has also started to pick up over the last 3 months with demand increasing in niche sectors.

As ever it is always hard to find good people and skills in demand include: Contractors with Java, C# and .net development. On the infrastructure side VMWare, Unix and SAN Specialists are all highly sought after. The permanent recruitment market has different dynamics and whilst Java is still in demand, so is C#. The permanent market sees industry experience just as important as skills and any one with Financial Services backgrounds, particularly in insurance and life and pensions, will find options in the market.

Salary levels and Contractor rates are still in line with 12 months ago, but if demand continues to increase, it is likely that we will see some pressure on these over the next 6 months.

In summary, the market looks optimistically healthy and the important investment from international organisations continues. But we should take this with a note of caution, there are warnings that if Ireland is not able to produce the calibre of candidates these type of organisations demand they could take their investment elsewhere.

If you are an established professional in the IT industry or a graduate looking for your first role you could do worse than becoming proficient in some of the above skills.