🦜 PerchPulse - The Ireland Market Update December 2022 🦜

A warm welcome to the December issue of PerchPeek’s Ireland Market Monthly update!

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Here’s where you’ll find the hottest updates around employee relocation and international talent strategy, insights from our experts on housing and cost-of-living news affecting your staff, the latest trends in global mobility, and tips and tricks on ways to support your teams.

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A fly-by summary

●     Irish hiring trends report shows optimism: nine out of 10 employers plan to hire in 2023, 79% plan to increase salaries and 92% have had skills shortages they wish to rectify

●     More and more workers quitting the big cities, and how to support staff with resulting longer commutes

●     Cost of living changes for 2023: energy bills, minimum wage increase, the National Childcare Scheme and more

●     Relocation roundup: from a menagerie of pets to colleagues becoming neighbours, we’ve put a spotlight on some of our interesting Ireland moves from this year

●     PerchPeek’s 2022 in numbers: from rental market stats to our biggest destinations, here’s what we’ve learned in 2022, and how this could help you support your team!

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Talent strategy: Data shows hiring plans expected to pick up in 2023

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We’ve all been dealing with ongoing hiring freezes this year, primarily in the tech industry but across a variety of sectors, but looking ahead to 2023, we’re seeing reasons to be optimistic.

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Key people strategy insights from the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends Guide 2023:

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●     Nine out of 10 Irish employers plan on hiring over the next year, out of a pool of more than 1,600 employers and professionals across the country

●     84% of companies increased their employees’ salaries this year (with 56% attributing this to the rise in the cost of living) and 79% plan to increase salaries in 2023

●     92% of employers have experienced skills shortages over the past year, and 75% wish to recruit permanent employees to plug their worker gaps

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This data shows there are expectations for hiring to pick up in 2023, despite current economic concerns, and for the challenges around talent retention to be tackled directly.

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Our advice is:

●     To review compensation packages and keep them competitive to be able to attract and retain the best talent - and perhaps even be prepared for an extra influx of applicants when things start to pick up; tech solutions can really help stay on top of things here.

●     To act early on recruitment strategies if possible, to capitalise on the opportunities available in the first half of the year - there may be a smaller talent pool in later months.

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Home-finding: International workers moving to more affordable counties

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An effect of the housing crisis in Dublin, where demand is outstripping supply to the extent that sometimes hundreds of hopeful applicants queue up to view a single property, is that more and more international workers are giving up on the capital and opting to move to cheaper areas.

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Counties like Leitrim are seeing an increasing number of people quitting Dublin and other cities to live further out, attracted by the lower cost of living and more close-knit communities in less populated areas. This is having a knock-on effect by pushing up rental prices in these districts.

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What’s more, PerchPeek’s Ireland relocation experts report that this exodus to the suburbs isn’t easing the pressure on the Dublin housing market. It’s still just as challenging to secure a rental due to the shortage of properties versus the number of people flocking to this global business hub.

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Here are our tips for supporting workers living further from the office:

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●     Implement flexible working policies; adopt a hybrid or even fully remote approach to improve employees’ work-life balance and avoid lost productivity during commutes.

●     To help employees with commute costs, implement a scheme where the company pays for an annual travel pass at a discounted rate, then the employee pays it back monthly.

●     As securing rental properties is more and more difficult everywhere - not just in Dublin - allow employees the flexibility to attend viewings during work hours and at short notice.

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Cost of living: Public transport prices, gas bill cap and other key updates affecting your employees in 2023

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It’s been a difficult time for everyone towards the end of 2022, with soaring inflation causing the cost of living to rise. As our clocks tick over to the new year, we’ll see changes to a number of everyday costs. While many are set to increase, there are a few positive points on the horizon!

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Here’s our roundup of the main changes that’ll have an impact on your teams:

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●     While households in Northern Ireland will benefit from energy bill caps as of 1st January due to the UK Energy Price Guarantee, there are no caps planned for the Republic of Ireland, meaning more volatility for customers and risks of prices rising dramatically.

●     On 1st January 2023 the national minimum wage is to increase from €10.50 per hour to €11.30 per hour for those aged 20 and above

●     The National Childcare Scheme subsidy will increase from €0.50/hour to €1.40/hour from January, meaning up to an additional €40.50 reduction in weekly childcare costs

●     Good news for commuters! Public transport fares were reduced by an average of 20% across Transport for Ireland bus, train and tram services, and it’s been confirmed that this reduction will continue until the end of 2023

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Some changes are confirmed, but it’s harder to predict how the cost of living will fluctuate later in 2023 as a result of macro trends. Make sure to keep on top of such developments and review compensation packages regularly to keep them in line with current living costs, so your teams feel supported through these challenging price increases.

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Home-finding: Putting a Perchy spotlight on some interesting moves we’ve managed this year!

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In the world of relocating employees, no two moves are the same! Here’s a roundup of some of our favourite Ireland relocations from 2022, and what we’ve learned from these experiences:

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Pet lovers of Portlaoise - A big family - four people, three dogs and a cat - secured a dream home in County Laois, and for under €2,000! The real challenge was finding landlords happy about the number of pets, meaning extending the search radius to 160 km outside Dublin.

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Rebound to Ranelagh - One relocator from Jordan had lived in Dublin five years ago and was keen to return to Ranelagh. The key thing was to manage expectations around how much rental prices have shot up in recent years, but happily we could still make it work - we relocated him to not just his dream area but the same apartment block - now newly renovated!

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Colleagues to neighbours in Cherrywood - One Dublin mover was keen to be conveniently located for his office - a key requirement for most moves. It’s safe to say we delivered when finding an ideal new-build development - it turned out that his manager lives there too!

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In short, everyone’s needs are different but even the most tricky situations can be dealt with. It all comes down to providing tailored support, through personalised property recommendations and local expert guidance, and we’re looking forward to developing this further next year!

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When it comes to supporting your relocating staff, remember that their individual circumstances will affect their experience. For example, movers with lots of pets should prepare for a tricky search, while others may be in for a surprise when comparing rent prices to several years ago!

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Talent strategy: PerchPeek’s international talent learnings from our 2022 experience in numbers

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This year we’ve seen a lot of developments in international talent strategy. Diving into the data, here’s what we’ve learned from the many moves we’ve managed in 2022:

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●     With the rise of tech-based solutions and flexible budget options, HR teams can use relocation to access talent at all levels, no longer just executives. In 2022 we’ve helped over 2,250 people start their relocation journey to 28 countries around the world.

●     Ireland is one of our top five relocation destinations in terms of mover volume, proving that while it may be a small country in size, it’s a big player when it comes to attracting international talent. Unsurprisingly, Dublin is where 95% of our Ireland movers go!

●     The Irish rental market remains extremely competitive. It really varies based on a mover’s budget and other needs, but on average it’s taken 25-50 enquiries and 15 viewings to secure a rental property. Perseverance and resilience on the part of the mover are key, and HR can support by offering employees flexibility and patience.

●     With a tricky rental market and complex processes to follow, movers have a lot of questions and are super grateful for relocation advice. In our app, our relocation experts exchange an average of 500 instant messages with each mover!

●     Relocation support can be a crucial factor in candidates deciding to take a job, and we love to see the value it delivers for every mover. We’re so proud to be rated 4.9 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot from over 300 reviews - we can’t wait to build on this in 2023!

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We hope you enjoyed this month’s update, and wish you a happy and restful holiday season.

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If you ever have any feedback, comments or questions about what's happening in your location, feel free to reach out via the form below!

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Thanks for reading, and see you in the new year!

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