Ireland ‘less attractive’ to foreign tech talent amid slump in job postings

Ireland has become “less attractive” to foreign technology workers in recent years, a new study from recruiter Morgan McKinley has suggested.

Trayc Keevans, global FDI director at Morgan McKinley Ireland, said there was “a sense of realism” in the number of jobs available in the sector going into this year with the “constant growth in technology” having finally slowed. Yet, the number of jobs available in the fourth quarter of last year looked “steady” for 2023 with companies still hungry for local talent.

“Ireland has become less attractive to overseas technology candidates and overseas hires have also become less of a priority for Irish technology employers,” she said. “Factors such as remote working options and, to a lesser extent, other economic and housing crisis variables, resulted in overseas job seekers putting pause on their plans to relocate to Ireland or considering alternative locations in the short term. In addition, Ireland’s technology employers have benefited in local hiring and have taken advantage of available personnel from multinationals already in the market.”

Morgan McKinley’s latest employment monitor indicates that the total number of professional job vacancies in Ireland slumped 17 per cent in the final three months of 2022 compared with the three months previous with new postings down 8 per cent in December from the same month in 2021.

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Hiring in the financial services sector was “consistent” in the fourth quarter despite growing demand for mortgage professionals following the loosening of the Central Bank of Ireland’s mortgage rules for first-time buyers.

The construction sector, meanwhile, “is currently very stressed”, said Ms Keevans, with one in four construction jobs vacant.

“This is particularly the case with project managers, quantity surveyors, carpenters and site managers as there is not the same level of talent coming through as there was before,” she said.

Overall, Ms Keevans said: “Job postings in the last quarter of 2022 overall remained stable despite the economic headwinds employers are facing. There’s little doubt that the economy faces some daunting challenges in 2023, however, the labour market is in a strong position to withstand the forecast turbulence.”