Irish professionals still flock to UK after Brexit

Over a quarter of Irish talent chooses Britain - twice as many as to the US

English-speaking ‘Ireland remains highly attractive for migrating professionals thanks to our membership of the European Union,’ said Sharon McCooey, site leader of LinkedIn Ireland

Ellie Donnelly

The UK remains the top destination for professionals leaving Ireland, despite the country's intention to leave the European Union, according to new data.

The level of movement between both countries has however fallen marginally, with around 26pc of all those leaving Ireland opting for the UK between October 2016 and April 2017, compared to approximately 27pc in the previous six months.

"While there is a slight fall in the total share of professionals emigrating to the UK compared to the previous period, it is still too early to tell whether this is a trend which will continue in the short term," Sharon McCooey, senior director of international operations and site leader of LinkedIn Ireland, said. LinkedIn conducted the latest research.

Despite strict visa requirements, the United States came in second after the UK, attracting 12.3pc of professionals.

The other main destinations were Spain, Australia and France, according to LinkedIn.

The top five sectors where people sought opportunities abroad are human resources, marketing, social services, project management, and media and communications.

Ireland also continues to benefit from professionals moving to the country.

In particular the software sector's demand for talent continues to grow, with Ireland home to over 900 indigenous and multinational software firms.

"Ireland remains highly attractive for migrating professionals thanks to our membership of the EU, particularly given that we will soon be the only English-speaking member of the Eurozone," Ms McCooey said. Brazil is the top net source for professionals moving to Ireland as a whole, with roughly one in five professionals moving to Ireland from the South American country.

Other countries featuring prominently include India, which accounts for approximately 17pc of professionals moving to Ireland, followed by Italy at 9.6pc and Croatia at 7.5pc. A further 6.4pc came from France.

Along with software, the sectors attracting more talent to Ireland include healthcare and pharmaceutical, oil and energy, and human resources/recruitment.

As a way of promoting greater overseas technology recruiting, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland launched Tech/Life Ireland in 2016.

The initiative, which is government-funded, involves an international marketing initiative and a dedicated website, www.techlifeireland.com.

The aim of the campaign was to attract 3,000 tech professionals to Ireland each year.

According to the Tech/Life website, the top five most in demand skills in Ireland right now are in the areas of java, python, .net, C++, and PHP.

Features of the website include information on tech careers in Ireland, help for professionals in choosing a place to live in Ireland, as well as information on moving to Ireland.

The LinkedIn results are based on anonymous profiles of LinkedIn users who relocated between October 2016 and April 2017.

LinkedIn itself has benefited from the movement of professionals to Ireland, with 28 different languages spoken at its international headquarters in Dublin.