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    72% would emigrate for work, says survey

    By Noreen Bowden | April 26, 2010

    The majority of Irish people would consider emigrating for work, according to a survey conducted by a recruitment company. 72% of the 1000 people surveyed by Grafton Recruitment in March said they would consider leaving.

    When asked where they would go, Europe was the top pick; Australia, Britain and Canada were the next choices. Only 60% said they would be willing to relocate to Northern Ireland for a job.

    Grafton Recruitment Managing Director Cathy McCorry said, “Migrating for work has become part of Ireland’s history and so it is of no surprise that Irish workers are not fazed by moving to another country for a number of years.”

    She issued a caveat, however, noting that the loss of workers could be damaging for the labour market:

    “The concern for employers, however, is that a massive exodus of talent leaving Ireland to work in another country will have a significant long-term impact on the Irish labour market.

    She also notes that there needs to be more study of the effects of this outward migration on the labour market; as I’ve noted many times, there is a dearth of up-to-date information on Irish emigration rates. It would be great to get quarterly migration statistics, for example, instead of the annual ones we get currently, issued several months after the period to which they refer.

    “This trend needs to be examined properly and employers and governments need to actively respond to the fluidity of talent and the challenges and opportunities that talent mobility poses for both employers and individuals.”

    One of Ireland’s key strengths for getting ourselves out of this current crisis, of course, is our ability to harness the power of the last few decades of talent mobility. Perhaps this is encouraging some complacency regarding our current situation; as has been noted by several commentators, there appears to be little concern at governmental level about responding to the challenges of this latest rise in talent mobility.

    Related website:

    InsideIreland.ie: 72% of Irish would emigrate for jobs

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