20% rise in UK-based workers looking for jobs in Ireland since Brexit vote

A 20% rise in searches for work in Ireland in the 100 days since the Brexit result is almost three times the average increase for the rest of the EU

The number of workers in Britain looking for jobs in Ireland has soared by a fifth since the Brexit referendum result, according to recruitment website Indeed.

There was a huge spike in the 24 hours immediately after the vote, but the company said latest analysis showed a sustained and rising interest from the UK in employment here.

There was also a jump in British searches for jobs in Australia (13%), Canada (10%) and Germany (9%).

But a 20% rise in searches for work in Ireland in the 100 days since the referendum result is almost three times the average increase for the rest of the EU, according to the data.

Used by more than 180 million people every month, Indeed is one of the most used recruitment sites in the world.

Indeed economist Mariano Mamertino said the findings show the post-Brexit rise in people seeking jobs outside the UK is both sustained and increasing.

"Within hours of Britain's vote for Brexit, many UK-based jobseekers jumped online to look for work elsewhere - and the first frenzied days after the referendum saw a huge spike in searches for jobs overseas," he said.

"As the dust settled on the result, many expected that Britons' desire to work abroad would cool.

"Yet our research reveals that the number of searches for overseas jobs remains high.

"Interestingly, one of the consequences of the Brexit vote has been to make Ireland a more popular destination for jobseekers located in other EU countries."

Mr Mamertino suggested fears of a "hard Brexit" fuelled by remarks from the Conservative government could "unnerve" foreign workers and drive a further increase in the weeks ahead.

"The UK economy has proved resilient in the first few months since the poll, with consumer confidence remaining high and the number of people in work barely changing," he said.

"But a deterioration in the hiring appetite of employers coupled with increasing talk of a 'hard Brexit', and returning uncertainty over what that might mean, is now prompting many of those who had been thinking of working overseas to job hunt in earnest," he added. 

From rte.ie (10/10/2016)