More than 2,000 commuters living in Co Meath who work in Dublin have registered with a website saying they would change jobs to be closer to home.
In light of this, Meath County Council and Fás have put together a new skills initiative which offers training courses to increase the chance of getting work in the county.
Significantly, current employers will not have to be told about a person's participation in a course.
Since it was launched a year ago by the council's economic development office, there have been more than half a million hits on the www.workinmeath.ie website and 2,100 people have registered with it, saying they want to work in Meath.
Many of them work in highly skilled and well-paid sectors, but spend up to four hours a day commuting to and from work in Dublin.
Meath county development officer Frank Fitzmaurice said: "Already one major investment decision - that by PFPC International to locate a 290[ -job] hedge fund project in Navan - was made on foot of the evidence that the county can provide a large, willing and very experienced labour pool."
He confirmed that anyone who had registered with the website could take part in the new Meath Skills Development Programme, which covers areas such as IT, logistics, sales, marketing and human resources.