Skilled non-EU workers ‘still needed’

Ireland has attracted one of the most qualified non-EU workforces in Europe, thanks to Government policies that prioritise highly-skilled workers, according to a report from the Economic and Social Research Institute.

The ESRI has concluded that, in spite of the high levels of unemployment which persist here, there remains a shortage of suitably qualified indigenous workers particularly in the ICT, healthcare and financial services sectors. Therefore it says the country needs to persist with initiatives to attract highly-skilled non-EU workers.

There were just over 64,300 non-EEA workers employed in Ireland last year, representing 3.9% of total people employed. That compared to an EU27 average of 4.1%.