Offshore yourself: Making the move to Dublin
January 7, 2009 nnyq.com editThe Celtic tiger -- Ireland's high-tech boom -- isn't roaring quite as loud as it once did. A downturn in the overinflated housing market has helped slow the economy in Ireland, but many of the U.S. companies that fueled the boom by opening offices around Dublin remain on the hunt for experienced tech workers.
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What's hot: Because Ireland's tech industry is relatively young, companies there face significant challenges finding the deep technical know-how they require to ensure a competitive edge. As such, many are eager to look beyond the shores of Ireland to lure the right folks to fill open tech posts.
Ireland's homegrown technology industry is quite small; the opportunity for foreign workers is often with U.S. companies that have set up shop there. A recent study found that 74 percent of U.S. companies in Ireland said that they have experienced difficulty finding skilled labor, according to the American Chamber of Commerce in Dublin. That meant that 60 percent of companies in the study said they recruit outside of Ireland.
Those U.S. companies in Ireland are looking for developers, engineers, testers, and researchers, since the majority of them are technology-oriented companies. Sixteen of the top 19 U.S. companies in Ireland, by number of employees, are either technology or biomedical firms.
Pam Sindall, who recently worked for a year as a business intelligence analyst for the Office group at Microsoft's European headquarters in Dublin, is one such tech veteran who rode deep technical experience to Ireland. Already working at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., headquarters, Sindall had more than just skills in her corner -- she was a known quantity on which Microsoft ultimately placed its employment bet.
U.S. and multinational tech companies: Dell, Intel, IBM, Ericsson, Google, Oracle, Bell Labs, and Microsoft are among the many companies seeking tech veterans for Dublin area operations. And for those posting openings, the emphasis is, by and large, on experience.
Ireland's Celtic tiger was initially fueled by U.S. companies that located call center and manufacturing operations in the country. But as the boom grew and prices rose, those operations shifted to cheaper locals, like India and China. In hopes of retaining jobs in Ireland, the government over the past few years has initiated incentives for companies to move up market, namely by encouraging them to open up research facilities in the country. That translates into opportunity for educated researchers and other technology workers.
Red tape: Corporate sponsorship emphasizing specialized skills used to be the best bet for obtaining a work permit in Ireland. But last year, a new law came into effect that could make it easier for non-European Union citizens to work in Ireland. A new green card system was initiated that lets essentially anyone earning more than €60,000 and many people earning less to buy a green card.
Historically, proving that a non-Irish candidate has skills not found among Irish workers on market was a necessary -- and often arduous -- process for companies hiring IT pros from abroad. Sindall, who lived there before the green card process and even had Microsoft on her side, experienced delays getting permission to work in Ireland.
Language: Fluency in English is a must for most jobs in Ireland. But with a growing population of people from abroad, Ireland is accepting of people who speak English as a second language. In fact, being multilingual can be a plus for people looking for certain types of jobs in Ireland since the country has built a reputation in recent years as a hot spot for localization work. Speaking multiple languages can be valuable for people at companies like Google and Microsoft, which do work in Ireland tweaking their Web sites and services for different languages and cultures.
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