A new initiative from the Irish government will see €1.9m put towards attracting tech talent from overseas as supply continues to trail demand in the labour market.
While one neighbouring country in Europe rails from a campaign that poured scorn on the free flow of labour, the Irish government is continuing to head in the opposite direction with Tech/Life Ireland set up to target foreign workers.
A goal of 3,000 technology professionals coming to the country from abroad each year will see a national marketing initiative, mainly in online realms.
Initially, this will be aimed at Central and Southern Europe, as “these have been identified based on detailed analysis of talent movement”.
The €1.9m will be spent across three years as the government again seeks ways to increase the labour pool in an industry that has been continually booming for years now.
“If we are to continue to win overseas investment in ICT-related jobs, and to grow the strong base of Irish-owned companies in ICT and related areas, we need to ensure that we have a sufficient supply of talent to meet the needs of enterprises,” said Mary Mitchell O’Connor, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
“The growth we are seeing in ICT employment requires us to supplement the supply of our own excellent graduates with overseas talent. The Tech/Life Ireland campaign […] will not lessen the opportunities for Irish graduates, but will add to the overall diversity, knowledge base and experience in the ICT workforce.”
At the moment, Ireland employs an estimated 80,000 people across the various ICT companies, with jobs growing consistently since around 2009.
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