Ireland’s talented workforce essential in attracting US investment

The availability of highly skilled talent is now more important than ever when it comes to attracting and retaining foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland.

Ireland’s workforce has long been one of the key factors in attracting investment from large multinational companies (MNCs). Irish workers are the most productive in the world, according to the OECD. We have the fourth most international workforce in the European Union, and 63 per cent of 25–34-year-olds in Ireland have attained third-level education compared with the EU average of 41 per cent.

With Ireland’s unemployment rate at a record low of 3.8 per cent and amid a global battle for talent, however, it is crucial that we continue to develop and attract world-class talent to meet industry needs.

In Amcham’s quarterly insight survey of members, 100 per of respondents said certainty regarding the availability of highly skilled talent is important to maintaining FDI employment in Ireland. Talent attraction and skills shortage have been consistently ranked among the top concerns for AmCham members when considering future investment in Ireland.

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According to the survey, 69 per cent of respondents said their organisation is currently experiencing a skills gap in Ireland, with the biggest gap being reported in engineering at 31 per cent. Furthermore, 24 per cent of respondents said their biggest skills gap is in digital and data, while 16 per cent said machine learning and AI. However, these areas represent some of the greatest opportunities for business and talent in the years ahead and strategic decisions by government will ensure Ireland can capitalise on these opportunities.

In addressing these gaps, and empowering our workforce, AmCham believes the opportunity exists to strengthen and expand our apprenticeships model with a particular focus on technical skills in software development, AI, engineering, advanced and digital manufacturing, immersive technologies and cybersecurity.

Many AmCham members are already working to address these skills gaps through partnerships with educational institutions to develop new courses in emerging fields and to offer practical on-site experience to students, as well as through apprenticeships and programmes supporting re-entry to the workforce.

Smart policy decisions

In the survey 55 per cent of respondents said that in the last 12 months they have worked in collaboration with a higher education institution, highlighting their commitment to Ireland’s research and innovation ecosystem. Furthermore, 26 per cent have worked with a research centre, 14 per cent with an Irish SME and 29 per cent have been collaborating with another US MNC.

Ireland can further support the continued growth of MNCs here by making smart policy decisions to position Ireland as a global leader in research.

AmCham acknowledges Government support for increased collaboration between industry and academia and the ambition outlined in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s White Paper on Enterprise to increase expenditure on research and development to 2.5 per cent of gross national income. Such investment can help to ensure Ireland is competitive in attracting inward investment in the RD&I sphere.

However, ensuring Ireland’s continued success in attracting FDI requires a whole of government and society approach. US multinationals in Ireland are at the forefront of the sustainability agenda. According to a recent survey of AmCham members, 42 per cent of respondents aim to be carbon neutral by 2030, with this rising to 64 per cent by 2040.

In advancing sustainability initiatives, AmCham believes it is essential that Ireland increases its development of renewable energy sources, particularly focused on the potential of offshore wind, wave, solar and green hydrogen, and urgently invests in the ongoing updating of the energy grid to provide sufficient capacity levels to cater for current and future power needs. AmCham has also called for the development of a sustainability roadmap for business, building on the Climate Action Plan, which provides concrete time frames and defined KPIs for business.

US MNCs have continuously chosen Ireland as their European hub for business, because of our world-class talent and our pro-business, pro-innovation ecosystem.

During his visit to Ireland this year, US president Joe Biden said: “Our world stands at an inflection point where the choices we make today will determine the course of the future history of this world for the next four to five decades, literally, not figuratively.”

Ireland has the opportunity now to build on our global reputation as a location of choice for FDI and ensure we are best placed to support business in the next wave of investment.