According to the findings of the Abrivia 2018 Salary Survey ,70% of employers increased headcount in 2017 and 85% plan to make new hires in 2018. While some firms experienced dramatic expansions in 2017, most increased their numbers by 10-20%.
41% of companies find ICT Roles the most difficult to fill whilst 25% of respondents find Sales and Marketing the most difficult to fill. On the other end of the scale. HR and Office Support roles are comparatively easier to fill when compared to other sectors.
What can be done at government level?
46% of respondents overall stated that the marginal tax rate in Ireland is making it difficult to attract overseas talent. When one looks specifically at the ICT Sector, just over 44% of firm’s state that the marginal rate of tax is hindering their ability to attract overseas talent. 80% of companies in the marketing sector find the marginal tax rate a deterrent to attracting overseas talent to these shores. There is a huge opportunity for the Irish government to restructure our tax system so it is not way out of kilter with the rest of Europe which has become a significant stumbling block in regards attracting overseas talent.
The shortage of rental accommodation is cited by 47% of client respondents as a key factor that is making it difficult to recruit new talent. Recently the government announced an affordable rental scheme to tackle availability and soaring rents, especially in the Dublin area. The government needs to do much more. They need to tackle controversial issues like whether Airbnb is damaging Dublin’s rental market. According to Dublin City Council there are currently over 6,000 Airbnb listings for Dublin city. As of this afternoon there are a mere 1,214 properties listed for rent on daft.ie in the Dublin region. This makes for an interesting conundrum!
