Free flights offer to Irish in Australia if they move back for jobs
FREE flights will be offered to Irish people in Australia to move back to Ireland to fill thousands of job vacancies.
Gifts of air tickets are intended to tempt young people who emigrated to Australia in huge numbers in recent years to return to their homeland.
Irish firm FRS Recruitment has organised roadshows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to be held between November 8 and 13.
The company stated that Ireland currently has 12,000 IT job vacancies, more than 2,500 jobs in MedTech firms, 2,300 jobs in the agri-food sector, 150 vacancies for doctors, 100 other healthcare sector jobs, and 120 professional posts in construction, and large numbers of financial sector vacancies.
In 2008, about 10,000 people left Ireland for Australia. The same numbers travelled in later years, peaking at 18,000 in 2012. Two years ago, more than 6,000 moved there from Ireland.
Those who attend the roadshows will get a lot of practical advice on moving back.
While the free flights offer extends to all sectors, FRS will be targeting personnel who wish to work in the construction, IT, healthcare, medical device/pharmaceutical and financial sectors.
Colin Donnery, general manager of FRS Recruitment, said: “As the country is moving closer to full employment, it is becoming more difficult to find suitably qualified personnel.
“Companies in Ireland are increasingly looking further afield to find people to fill important roles. For these companies, it is about finding the right candidate that meets their needs.
“During the recession a lot of qualified, educated people left these shores to seek out opportunities that simply were no longer available in Ireland.
“Australia was a particularly popular location, given the thriving jobs marketplace Down Under at that time. Many of these ex-pats have since gone on to develop strong careers in Australia, growing their experience and maintaining impressive CVs.
“We are aware of a significant number of ex-pats who harbour hopes of returning home. The point of the Ireland is Hiring roadshow is to help these people understand just how significant the opportunities are back in Ireland at the moment,” Mr Donnery said.
“We hope that by providing people with job details, giving them the key salary and logistical information, while also providing them with the incentive of free flights, it will encourage more people to seriously consider applying for roles back in Ireland.
“There are plenty of Irish people working in these sectors in Australia who would be of great interest to employers back in this country.
“We know just how badly their skill-sets are needed in this market and how these great positions could provide a fantastic opportunity for returning home,” he added.