The Irish Times predicts a good year for the Irish economy, and we don’t disagree. Our island nation of 5 million is a powerhouse corporate destination. With its highly educated workforce and welcoming immigration policy, Ireland has become the preferred EU location of over 1,000 multinational corporations. Dwellworks and its legacy companies have operated here since 1994, supporting thousands of relocations and temporary assignments from all over the world.
In addition to the well-known big company names in tech, professional and consulting services, finance, and biopharma, Dwellworks is seeing an increased interest in relocation and destination services from smaller companies that may not have utilized relocation services in the past. With a low local unemployment rate, companies are finding they need to fill critical skills roles with international candidates, and employers and employees alike need help managing visa, immigration, and registration processes, as well as with home-finding and critical needs like school searches. Expert help has never been more in demand.
Like many countries in Europe, Ireland had a post-pandemic surge of mobility in 2022 as employers activated their delayed relocations; the country has also supported the migration of over 100,000 refugees from Ukraine in the past 2 years. While 2023 was a slower year for corporate activity in general in response to inflation concerns and political uncertainty, the general consensus is that relocation volumes will pick up from the end of Q2 this year. This of course will be impacted by how volatile the global political and economic landscape remains.
Housing presents the biggest relocation challenge
As you’d expect in a small country with a growing population and high urban density (nearly 30% of Ireland’s population lives in and around Dublin), housing is at a premium. Recent build-to-rent (BTR) investments are adding to the supply of rental housing, with approximately 20,000 new apartments added since 2021. We are especially seeing more availability in the higher-priced end of the market. The always competitive mid-to-low priced tier translates to vacancy rates that perennially hover between 1-2%.
New construction is also active in Ireland’s other large cities, including Cork, Galway, and Limerick. The holdback in these markets is the limited extent of public transportation outside the city centres. There are more housing options for those who have their own transport, but stock remains lower than demand requires for locations outside of Dublin.
Another hurdle for some tenants: landlords in Ireland typically require proof that the monthly rent is no more than 40% of the tenant’s net income - a difficult challenge for many local renters.
Our dedicated Dwellworks Ireland Housing Desk team is staffed by experts who know the market in depth and are familiar with the details of local properties. Our team is in touch with the lettings agents daily, keeping their finger on the real-time pulse of the market. This frequent two-way communication puts our clients at the top of the property viewing queues. Letting agents and landlords are familiar with the profile of an international assignee and that can help in quickly qualifying an application to rent.
We also offer customized sharers and flat-mate service, helping interested renters connect and expand their potential rental options.
Managing cultural transitions and updating the perceptions of Ireland
Most people moving to Ireland are surprised to learn that nearly 20% of the population is born outside of the country. We in Ireland are used to a long history of inbound and outbound migration, and are proud of our dynamic, expanding culture and population.
At the same time, the Dwellworks Ireland team is educating ourselves about the populations we serve and support, in new waves of corporate migration not only from the US and Europe, but increasingly from China and Southeast Asia. Our destination services team has embraced cultural training to provide expert support to our new clients and to prepare them for a successful transition to daily life in Ireland.
Surprised as they are by the cultural diversity of Ireland, relocating employees are also often delighted to learn just how accessible and walkable our cities are – even Dublin, where you can walk from one side of the city to the other in a few hours. And of course, everyone appreciates the legendary friendliness of the Irish, who enjoy striking up a conversation with friends and strangers alike. To read our guide to all the exciting Dublin attractions, click here.
Our local expertise helps your global talent quickly settle into Ireland
As the global economy picks up steam, we expect continuous growth in Ireland. While it is a welcoming country, it’s not an easy market for finding a home and getting established on your own. With limited housing options in most major cities, we’re here to help employees quickly sort through their options and get settled into either furnished temporary housing or long term unfurnished lets. Having knowledge of every neighbourhood, property and letting agent in the market provides a unique advantage to getting employees on international assignment quickly situated and productive.
To learn more about our Ireland services, contact our team in Dublin at the emails below, and be sure to look out for our quarterly updates on markets around the world, including Dublin, coming out in April.
CONTACT:
Catherine Molyneaux- catherine.molyneaux@dwellworks.com
Claire De Lacy - claire.delacy@dwellworks.com
Failte go hEirinn! (Welcome to Ireland! 🍀)
Dwellworks is the world’s largest provider of destination-related services and temporary living solutions for the globally mobile workforce and business travelers. We provide business-to-business solutions for Fortune 1000 and emerging companies directly and through their relocation management partners. Whether a company needs to relocate its employees across the world or the country, we provide a range of support services to help employees and their families transition successfully from their home location to a new destination.
Dwellworks operates according to our core values of Integrity, Teamwork, Performance, Innovation, and Fun. These are the root of everything we do – from the Teamwork aspect of sourcing and supporting our helpful local Consultants to assist any relocating employee in hundreds of cities worldwide with their move, to the Integrity of our highly-trained Intercultural experts who are here to help transferees adjust to new cultures and confidently settle into their destination locations, to the Innovation of our myDwellworks technology platform that familiarizes employees on assignment with their destination and enables customized conversations on properties, schools, and situation-specific needs.
Dwellworks supports the diversity of our clients’ globally mobile workforce with personalized destination solutions in 16 countries, covering major relocation markets. Dwellworks has consistently responded to the mobility services and needs of our global clients. In 2020, Dwellworks launched Dwellworks Living to expand our original portfolio of corporate housing markets into a full-service corporate housing operation, offering alternative accommodations for relocation and business travel customers in 125 countries. Our full-service real estate brokerage, Station Cities, supports home rentals, sales, and purchases in the Tri-State New York area and Chicago. Visit our homepage, learn about our services, and read our blogs to learn how we can help with your relocation and business travel needs.