More Industry Professionals Migrating to Ireland For Work, Figures Show

New statistics from professional social networking website LinkedIn show that the UK was the most significant source of professionals making a move to Ireland during 2017.

The figures indicate that UK-based industry professionals accounted for 21% of the net-migration to Ireland, causing a shift in the patterns which had been documented earlier in the year.

The latest news shows a complete reversal of a study by LinkedIn that took place in the first half of 2017, which had suggested that university-educated professionals were choosing to migrate over to the UK for work. The professional networking site had also previously found that a third of the job adverts posted on LinkedIn viewed by Irish graduates were UK-based.

When LinkedIn began to look at the documented levels of net-migration over the past 18 months, however, it had become apparent that the roles have now reversed, with more and more UK professionals looking to take up positions in Ireland.

Senior Director of International Operations at LinkedIn, Sharon McCooey, spoke to RTE regarding the increase in interest in migrating. She noted how “it’s very much a function of the continued economic recovery in Ireland and fears over Brexit” that was responsible for the figures, adding that the UK is “closely followed by India and Brazil” when looking at professionals who are migrating to the country.

“There’s no surprise that the software industry remains the biggest lure for skilled workers moving to Ireland”, said McCooney. LinkedIn’s statistics show that there are over 900 Irish-based software companies, all of which are proving to draw interest to the country. Large-scale organisations such as Adobe, eBay and Yahoo all have offices in Ireland, with an array of successful tech start-ups all originating from the country. In addition to Dublin being dubbed the digital hub of Europe, it is understandable that, amid Brexit fears, people are planning a move.

“The flow of talent between the UK and Ireland has long been significant but this year, the combined forces of uncertainty in the UK and our continued recovery in Ireland, led by strong growth in Dublin, see us welcome more British resident workers to Ireland than the reverse”, McCooey said. In addition to the tech industry seeing an increase in interest, migrating has also reached a high for the financial, healthcare, insurance and pharmaceutical sectors.

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