In 2006 IT giant Google was granted 49 work permits for non-nationals to work in Ireland but by 2011 this had risen to 149. Migration experts www.visafirst.com say that Google is just one of a number of IT multinationals based throughout the country that have encountered a skills shortage in Ireland of late and have had to go overseas to source staff with the skills necessary for their various vacancies in IT specialist roles.
According to Edwina Shanahan, manager with www.visafirst.com: “Year to date there have been 29 work permits issued to companies in Mayo. By the end of last year this figure had reached 42. While these permits were granted to fill employment vacancies across a number of industries, the IT sector is one which has seen the highest increase in demand of late. There has been unprecedented demand from the IT industry demanding skilled staff and permits for non-nationals as the skill level required is just not available here in Ireland at the moment. Companies in the IT sector have announced over 1,500 vacancies this year that have yet to be filled, and our own experience is that in a large number of cases the employer ends up having to look overseas.” VisaFirst.com says that Google is not the only employer to have ramped up its recruitment of non-national and non-EU workers in the last five years. Other major players include Facebook, IBM, Infosys Technologies Limited (Ireland ), and Wipro Technologies.
The most popular option for sourcing employees is the work permit but other options include the green card, the intra-company transfer, another contract service provider concession permit and business visas.
Ms Shanahan explained: “There are restrictions on the above options regarding the ratio of national to non-EEA nationals and these must be adhered to.”
