Oliver Mangan: Few workers leave Irish economy very reliant on labour from overseas

Some 60% of US companies based in Ireland expect to expand their workforces in the coming year.

Strong inflows of foreign direct investment have been a key factor behind the extraordinary growth in output, exports and employment enjoyed by the Irish economy in the past couple of years. Recent announcements of job losses at US technology companies with significant operations in Ireland have sparked concerns about the health of the sector, as well as the prospects for continued inflows of new investments, at a time of a downturn in the global economy.

A survey of American Chamber of Commerce members in Ireland provides reassurance in this regard. It shows that over 60% of US companies based in Ireland expect to expand their workforces in the coming year, while just 4% of companies expect to shrink employee numbers. A key challenge may be sourcing these workers, especially with the IDA reporting a good pipeline of investments for 2023.