Late in February this year, Make IT in Ireland asked more than 140 IT professionals who had moved to Ireland from abroad what influenced their decision to relocate and what they thought about living and working in the country.
The Make IT in Ireland survey report shows that IT professionals come for the job opportunities, but likely stay for the people.
Of 144 people surveyed, 27.1pc came to Ireland less than one year ago, while 72.9pc have been on the island for more than two years. Most respondents (49.29pc) live in Dublin, while others were based in Cork, Limerick and Galway.
When asked what their main reason for moving to Ireland was, 36pc said it was the availability of greater job opportunities. This was the most popular response, followed by family or relationship ties (23pc), learning English or educational factors (21pc), and the desire for a new challenge (7pc).
The Irish people is what the majority of respondents said they liked most about Ireland (36.51pc), but job opportunities also factored in here, with 12.7pc selecting this as their favourite thing about the country.
Further to this, more than half (54.9pc) of respondents either agreed or slightly agreed that Ireland is a great location for job opportunities.
The presence of major international companies and job opportunities could also be attractive to these workers’ friends and family members at home, with 15.69pc believing this to be the case.
Working in Ireland seems to enable a good work-life balance, with 82.68pc of respondents either strongly or slightly agreeing with this idea, while 55.77pc of respondents strongly agreed that the pace of life in Ireland compared to other countries they had been in is more relaxed.
