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A warm welcome to the February issue of PerchPeek’s Ireland Market Monthly update!
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.
A fly-by summary
● Ireland’s housing crisis is becoming an important barrier to overcome when it comes to recruiting workers from overseas, according to the head of Enterprise Ireland
● New quotas of General Employment Permits, and how government efforts to streamline the country’s visas and permits could help HR teams bring in foreign talent faster
● Latest Dublin and Cork rental costs for Q1 2023, plus how a mass exodus of Ireland’s private landlords is putting increased pressure on the rental market
● Temporary cost of living measures launched in 2022, e.g. reduced VAT on energy bills and eviction ban, could be extended beyond February - details to share with your staff
● PerchPeek’s Dublin neighbourhood guide to support relocating employees, plus insights from our Ireland experts on how the north-south divide is just not a thing anymore!
Larger businesses need to find ways to overcome Ireland’s acute housing shortage in order to support their hiring from overseas.
The CEO of Enterprise Ireland, the country’s state agency for business, affirmed that companies need to bring a lot of talent in, and that’s where housing bites specifically. A record 39,995 work permits were issued to non-EEA nationals in 2022, and of course they have to live somewhere!
This claim is backed up by data from Morgan McKinley’s most recent employment monitor. The study found that following the recent technology sector slowdown, tech workers from abroad are pausing plans to relocate to Ireland or are considering alternative locations. The biggest issues they cite as putting them off are difficulties around housing, and remote working options.
It now remains to be seen if this warning from Ireland’s agency for business will provoke action from the government, to bring about real change to solve the housing crisis. Meanwhile, People leaders should consider offering flexible and remote working to help attract international talent.
Read on to find out what’s driving more pressure on Ireland’s already difficult rental market, and how those supporting relocating employees can help improve their success in securing homes.
Ireland’s labour market remains tight, with unemployment sticking near a two-decade low of 4.4%, and the number of Irish job postings on Indeed up by a whopping 64% vs. February 2020.
According to an Indeed economist, “staff shortages remain one of the most pressing issues for many employers”. And as we’ve talked about, the labour shortage means businesses are looking overseas in order to widen the potential pool of candidates and fill available roles.
Here’s a rundown of the latest stats and updates around overseas talent acquisition:
● In January 2023 the government granted 2,525 employment permits to foreign nationals. Of these, 42% were issued to Indian nationals, followed by applicants from the Philippines, Brazil, Pakistan, China and South Africa
● New quotas of General Employment Permits have been introduced across specific industries, including 1,000 permits for care workers and home carers, 500 permits for the dairy farming industry, and 1,500 permits within the transport industry
● The government is investigating how to streamline Ireland's permit systems for more consistency, simplicity and efficiency. The main proposal is to combine the currently separate work and immigration permits under one single application procedure.
With both the government and businesses focusing on ways to hire more talent from abroad, and more easily and efficiently, this is a positive step forward for global mobility leaders.
Irish rental market update
Minimum rental costs - Q1 2023 (source: PerchPeek):
In the news
A large number of private landlords are choosing to sell up and get out of the renting game. A study by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland found that on average, 40% of house sale instructions in Q4 2022 came from landlords selling investment properties.
This mass exodus of private landlords, in conjunction with current high house prices - which rose almost 10% YoY in the year up to October 2022 - means fewer rental properties are coming available, putting increased pressure on a rental market that’s already very challenging.
Insights from PerchPeek’s Ireland experts
In the new year we saw a lot more properties being listed compared to early December - a very normal trend as things tend to slow down for the holidays, then pick up quickly as many rental agreements run from January to December. We’ll then expect to see more properties coming onto the market in March, so it’s a good time for HR teams to relocate employees to Ireland.
A number of measures were launched last year to tackle the rising cost of living, most of which are now due to expire by the end of February or over the next couple of months.
However, the cost of living crisis is far from over in Ireland, like much of the world. Consumer prices rose by 8.2% over the past year according to the Central Statistics Office. Of these, the divisions with the largest increases were:
● Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels - up by a huge 25.9% YoY
● Food and non-alcoholic beverages - up by 11.7% YoY
The government is now deliberating on which measures to extend, with their decision expected by the end of February. Here’s a summary of the measures that could be extended:
● Reduced VAT rate of 9% for gas and electricity - due to expire on 28th Feb
● Reduced excise duty on petrol and home-heating oil - due to expire on 28th Feb
● Energy bill credits - third of three payments of €200 is due to be paid in February
● Temporary eviction ban for rental properties - set to stay in place until April
To support staff, especially newcomers who are unfamiliar with administrative procedures and bodies to contact, make sure to make them aware of updates around cost of living measures.
Thanks in large part to Dublin’s status as a global tech hub, the city welcomes thousands of expat workers every year, many of whom have no idea where to search for a home! Here’s PerchPeek’s summary that can be shared with relocators to help set them on the right track.
Key insights from PerchPeek’s Ireland experts
In the past, Dublin has been known to have a north-south divide, delineated by the River Liffey, with the north side home to the city’s working class residents, and the south side more affluent.
This perception still pervades to a certain extent; movers often tell us they’ve heard they should live in the ‘nicer’ south side, but that’s just not true anymore. There are trendy, sought after areas all over the city, from Portobello in the south side to Smithfield in the north side.
Plus, Dublin is of course in the midst of a rental crisis, with demand far outstripping supply. It’s important to manage assignees’ expectations, making clear that they can’t always afford to be too picky in terms of area. But again, there are plenty of great areas on both sides of the river!
Neighbourhoods of Dublin
● Docklands - the business and tech heart of the city, with over 500 firms on the doorstep
● The Liberties - located in the heart of of the city, full of old Dublin charm
● Portobello - trendy, vast and eclectic range of eateries and bars
● Smithfield - vibrant, trendy and well-connected, popular with young professionals
● Stoneybatter - hip, popular area of renaissance, great for first-time buyers
● Phibsboro - up-and-coming, highly sought-after north side neighbourhood[1] [2] [3]
We hope you enjoyed this month’s update!
If you have any feedback, comments or questions about what's happening in your location, feel free to reach out via the form at the bottom of this page.
Thanks for reading, and see you next month!
can we make a diagram/map of this ? would be a very cool infographic and go well in a lot of other content
is this something the graphic designer putting it all into the single downloadable document could do?
yes sure - please make the rough design template
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