Demand for work permits set to soar in 2024, says industry leader

More than 28,000 work permits were issued in 2023 and a surge in demand is likely in 2024, says Work Permits Ireland director

Demand for work permits is being driven by companies in Ireland seeking to recruit workers from overseas across virtually every industry sector from construction and infrastructure through to IT, sciences, manufacturing and healthcare. 

Established in 2018, Work Permits Ireland is a specialised immigration company with a team of highly experienced consultants who have over 20 years’ experience in Irish immigration working for clients from across the globe wishing to apply for an Irish employment permit.  

The company provides fee-based services in addition to the official government charges to advise, assist and represent clients through the often-complex application process. Work Permits Ireland is a working partner of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, the Irish Hotels Federation, the Irish Road Haulage Association, the Construction Industry Federation and the Coach Tourism and Transport Council of Ireland.

“We have seen an increase in services over the past year, mainly in the construction and infrastructure sectors involved in the areas of power, communications and water distribution,” explains Colm Hilliard, director of Work Permits Ireland. “While the permits issued this year totalled 28,383, a reduction compared with 39,955 for 2022, we have seen a marked increase in the work we are doing.” 

Work Permits Ireland represents clients in small to multi-national entities from across the globe in the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia, USA, South America, India, Africa, China, and Japan.

 “We work with a variety of clients from all of these countries, and over the course of 2023 would have assisted significant numbers of Filipinos for the construction sector, and South African nationals for truck driving, in keeping with those countries recognised by driving license authority for heavy goods vehicles.” 

National Car Test recently received work permits to recruit 200 driver testers from the Philippines to deal with the backlog in the service. 

“The system of getting the employment permit has improved dramatically in 2022 and into 2023, working more efficiently and with quicker turnaround times.” 

However, employers still need to get an entry visa for non-EU workers after their work permit was issued. 

“If the permit issues today, they have to apply for the entry visa, and that could take another six to eight weeks.” 

The government has set up an inter-departmental working group to look at a single process for the work permit and the entry visa. Residency permission can be granted from one day up to two years, and the Irish company offering a position must be registered with the companies’ registration office and with Revenue in order to make an application for a permit of employment.

Work Permits Ireland represents clients in the financial, Information Technology, manufacturing, processing, consultancy, relocation facilities and the film industries. Ireland’s position as the only predominantly English-speaking country within Europe, as well as quicker work permit application turnarounds, is enhancing the country’s ability to attract workers from abroad to fill staff vacancies across a wide range of sectors.

 “We are the only English-speaking country within Europe, which is added to by a very good employment environment and history. While our overall population has increased in recent years, Ireland is very attractive to outside workers in being seen in their eyes as not at all over populated.” 

Colm Hilliard, director of Workpermits.ie, says demand is soaring for its services from every sector, from construction, road haulage and restaurants to IT, insurance and finance.

Through social media and word of mouth, many incoming workers arrive here on the recommendation and advice of relatives and friends already employed here: “No more than when it was the other way around in the past and the Irish went abroad to work, that contact with home on where was good to get work and who was good to work for formed much of the contact. Also, quality of life is an important factor for people who are leaving their nationality and culture in coming to another country.” 

While the task of finding suitable housing is a challenge for both locals and outsiders alike, Work Permits Ireland has witnessed no appreciable difficulty in the clients it works with. 

“Obviously we are aware that housing is an issue up there on a daily basis, what we find is that many employers, and certainly the larger entities, have acquired rental properties for their employees, and see it as a duty of care when people come to work for them. Employers want their employees, many of whom would have travelled up to 4,000 miles for jobs, to be properly accommodated and able to perform their occupations properly. Happily, I have yet to hear from any of the people that we have arranged transit into Ireland and received employment permits for, that they have any problems with housing.” 

While a large portion of their clients are in the hospitality and construction sectors, Work Permits Ireland are branching out operations in a wider arc.

 “We have dealt with increasing numbers of high-end company directors coming in for the bigger entities, and we are also looking at greater numbers in the Information Technology space, we are dealing with a lot of that kind of work. Financial and insurance activities are other sectors where we have seen notable increases, and of course healthcare workers are very much a part of the ongoing work we do.” 

 

Mr Hilliard added that mining and quarrying are also on the increase, in addition to technical expertise in the areas of electricity, gas and high-powered cabling.

Looking toward the horizon of 2024, Mr Hilliard takes a positive outlook for Work Permits Ireland: “I would have a very positive outlook, judging by the orders that are coming in on a daily basis. January and February are going to see a similar trend to what we have experienced in the last quarter of 2023, so that is certainly a good indicator for the commencement of the new year.” 

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