Is it a good time to return home to Ireland?

Michelle Murphy, director, CollinsMcNicholas Recruitment

Certainly within the last 12-18 months the economy has become a lot more vibrant and buoyant, and it’s not only the multinationals that are hiring, but also the small and medium-sized companies. That’s always a very good sign because typically a small or medium-sized firm would be a little bit more cautious about hiring. The jobs would be right across the board, from engineering and IT to support roles in marketing, HR and customer service.

A lot of these companies are either spin-offs from the larger multinationals, or they could be suppliers to the multinationals, so the fact that they are hiring is good news. We are hiring engineers from Portugal and Spain so the salaries are definitely competitive. More emigrants are attracted to the west of Ireland for the cost of living, the quality of life, and the opportunities for the long-term, but also to other regions such as Cork and Athlone. We are expecting to see many emigrants coming along to our #Homeforwork national recruitment events in Cork, Sligo, Galway and Athlone on December 29th.

Claire Mahon, HSE senior lead nursing and midwifery recruitment and retention

The HSE has gone through some difficult times over the last six to seven years, but things are starting to turn around. There are a number of areas that are nursing “hotspots”, such as vacancies within our A&E departments and within our acute hospitals. There are also lots of opportunities in mental health services. We are competing in a global market for nursing, but pay issues for our young graduates are being addressed, such as the restoration of the incremental credit for work placements for those nurses who graduated between 2011 and 2014. Although the HSE doesn’t have as much flexibility in our budget as some services do, the fact is we are offering permanent positions and to pay relocation expenses of €1,500 if you are returning from the UK. The HSE is definitely open and recruiting nurses and will welcome anyone back into the system.

Mark Christal, manager of client management development and client skills at Enterprise Ireland

Enterprise Ireland firmly believes that SMEs provide great opportunities for interesting and varied careers. To be successful in global markets, Irish companies need the skills and capabilities to market and sell their products and services in diverse markets. Irish people returning from overseas bring with them their international experience of different business practices, cultures and, in some cases, language skills, which can be invaluable to Irish companies with global ambition who are recruiting. Enterprise Ireland has a range of supports to help client companies to develop and enhance their skills base including mentors, advocates and graduate programmes. Our focus on helping businesses to start, innovate and scale in international markets is also paying dividends.

Fidelma Haffey, HR resourcing manager, Trinity College Dublin

It is an excellent time to return to Ireland as opportunities in the public sector are expanding. Dublin is now a diverse multi-cultural city and confidence in the market is evident from the increased opportunities in the financial and legal sectors. There is much discussion about Brexit in terms of the opportunities and challenges ahead; notwithstanding the likelihood of global companies transferring to Dublin and Ireland. Trinity College Dublin anticipates a lot of employment opportunities opening up in the university in 2017 across its academic, research, professional, administrative, technical and support posts.

In 2017 the corporate services division will seek to hire a new director of IT services alongside project managers and other IT positions. We are also looking to reach out to suitably-qualified doctors to fill nearly 20 medical positions across a broad range of disciplines from clinical medicine, haematology, paediatrics to surgery. We also anticipate that research opportunities in engineering, mathematics and science for emigrants with PhDs will continue to grow in 2017 thanks to our success in securing prestigious Horizon 2020 funding. In arts, humanities and social sciences, there are plans to hire 22 new academic staff members in the new year.

Olivia McMahon, marketing communications at Publicjobs.ie

If you are home for Christmas and are tempted to make your return a permanent move, there is good news on the jobs front. Recruitment across the public sector is back in full swing as the Irish economy shows tentative signs of recovery. New opportunities are opening up for talented and skilled emigrants to make the move back to Ireland. There is an enormous variety of roles across the public sector with people requirements in all areas over the past number of years, but particularly in HR, finance and IT. The Civil Service is also actively managing the challenges faced with an ageing workforce, ensuring that each appointment draws on the widest possible pool of available talent, and providing more open development opportunities for all staff. With more focus on employee wellbeing, these jobs offer opportunities for career progression, a competitive salary, training and work/life balance with family friendly options.