Skills shortage forces IT firms to recruit abroad, say experts

IT giants such as Google and Facebook are facing a skills shortage in Ireland that is forcing them to go abroad to recruit staff.

Migration experts at visafirst.com have said that Google is just one of a number of IT multinationals that have encountered a skills shortage in Ireland of late and has had to go overseas to source staff with the skills necessary for their various vacancies in IT specialist roles.

For example, Google, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, was granted 49 work permits for non-nationals to work in Ireland in 2006, but by last year this had risen to 149.