The housing crisis is making Ireland's skills shortage worse, a new report reveals

The lack of housing supply is leading to more emigration of young workers, the Morgan McKinley Quarterly Employment Monitor showed. 

The housing crisis is having a “major” impact on companies trying to hire new staff, a new report found.

The lack of housing supply in cities in addition to soaring costs is leading to a rise in emigration, further emptying the talent pool, the Morgan McKinley Quarterly Employment Monitor showed.

“There has been a notable and sustained decline in the availability of emerging talent,” said Trayc Keevans, global FDI director at Morgan McKinley Ireland.

“The impact of this is being felt in the employment market with employers struggling to fill entry level and graduate positions as this talent cohort is emigrating due to the lack of housing and the cost-of-living crisis,” she added.

In the last quarter, Australia, the UK, and Canada were the primary destinations for Irish graduates that decided to look for opportunities elsewhere. Singapore, Dubai, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands were also popular. Some new graduates emigrated to Spain, France and Germany.

The report registered and overall 7% increase in the number of new professional job opportunities in Q3, compared to the previous quarter, across all professional sectors. However, there was also 3.3% drop in the number of professionals actively seeking new jobs compared to Q2.

The small talent pool has led to a candidate driven hiring market. Morgan McKinley claims in its report that this is leading to salary pressure and demands for flexible working conditions.

“The remaining talent at this level are not compromising on salary demands of up to 20% higher than current norms for entry-level and early-career qualified roles,” said Ms Keevans.

“Furthermore, these entry level roles are now also being filled with more experienced talent on higher salaries resulting in higher overall employment costs for businesses,” she said.

The report claimed that employment permits are being processed at almost double the rate of last year, in reaction to staff shortages.