Housing crisis threatens to switch off supply of tech staff

SOME problems are all-encompassing and the housing crisis is one that is now impacting in all sorts of way across society. A new survey from technology-focused recruitment company Prosperity shows how the difficulty of finding a place to live here is now having a serious impact on the local technology sector.

Staff retention has long been difficult in an industry reliant on recruiting people with very specific skillsets. This problem was somewhat offset by the ability of companies to attract in programmers and other specialists from abroad, with as many as 40pc coming from overseas.

But that is changing. The survey finds that the lack and the cost of accommodation in Ireland is now jeopardising that international supply. In 2016 and preceding years, the recruiter had a rejection rate of approximately 15pc on job offers to candidates living abroad.

By the third quarter of 2017 that had doubled to nearer 30pc with many citing accommodation horror stories as the reason. Another good reason to sort out a terrible mess.