‘We must match skilled workers to jobs’
Recruitment expert says highly qualif ied refugees can help to f ix Ireland’s chronic labour shortage
A LEADING private-sector recruitment figure has urged the Government to do more to match Ukrainian refugees with employers here who can’t fill jobs.
Amid uncertainty over what the plan is to deal with an influx of refugees, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys has taken a lead in moving to integrate them into society as swiftly as possible.
The plan, one senior source said, ‘is to get them their public service and the medical card as quickly as possible and get them into the system’.
One Government source said the intention, if possible, ‘is to facilitate them becoming part of the workforce in areas where we have skills shortages. It makes sense. They want to work, to contribute’.
Many of those who have arrived so far are highly qualified, a source said. ‘They are the first wave, the ones who had enough money to flee.’
Ukraine’s insistence on keeping all men aged between 16 and 66 to fight the Russians means the first tranche of refugees is unlikely to be able to fill the most acute skills shortage in construction.
One minister said: ‘It’s a fairly even division between women, children, and the over-65s. All men are being requisitioned for the war effort.’
Another said: ‘We are getting an influx of a highly educated people who want to work and who should be facilitated, but there is a lot of red tape. Things are being made more difficult than they should be.
‘It is simple things, like if you are qualified as an electrician in Ukraine, transferring that qualification to Ireland. It should not be as difficult as it is proving to be.’
Recruitment expert Neill Dunwoody is spearheading the voluntary recruitment portal, Tech Link Ukraine. More than 1,000 employers, including An Post and Permanent TSB, have already signed up.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday this weekend, Mr Dunwoody criticised Government efforts to date.
‘What I would like to see is more involvement from them, reaching out saying we’ll work with you and help you instead of going “oh we’re building something” and six months down the line they eventually launch it. Either you launch it now or just get out of the way.’
Launched just two weeks ago, Tech Link Ukraine is already getting 5,000 new Ukrainian candidates a day. There are no fees. Instead, employers are encouraged to spend their recruitment budget on flights, accommodation and other supports for those fleeing the war.
The site began as a forum for tech staff but is now dealing with all sectors including healthcare, construction and hospitality – sectors where Irish employers are facing a crippling shortage of employees.
‘If I was the HSE I’d be doing my damnedest to try and recruit as many Ukrainian nurses and medical professionals as possible,’ said Mr Dunwoody, who urged the authorities to put in place training for specialists.
‘There’s certain roles like teaching, nursing, medical professions, accounting, where you have to be trained in whatever way that country operates. Countries have to be open to that.’
Job offers available with Irish and British companies include on-site positions as well as remote working jobs that displaced Ukrainians living in mainland Europe can fill.
Monaghan-based Mr Dunwoody set up the service after a desperate refugee, who turned out to be a graphic designer and a lawyer, walked into the business centre he works in seeking a job.
‘Her brother worked in Monaghan Mushrooms,’ he said. ‘She walked from Lviv to the Polish border. That’s why I started this. She had just the clothes on her back. That’s it. Her bank accounts are frozen. So she lost everything.
‘This isn’t just about putting people in jobs. By putting somebody in a job you’re potentially saving their life and their family’s lives.’
Government plans for hotel and tent accommodation do not suit workers with families seeking work that may be remote or hybrid.
‘Temporary housing in tents in Gormanstown or anything like that – if somebody is in it for more than two weeks, there’s going to be problems,’ he said.
One of those problems is a fear that tensions over housing will spill over into racism – something Mr Dunwoody says he has already seen signs of.
‘I was always very aware that this was going to happen. So I was prepared for it. It was always going to get messy. I’ve already got flak from, say, Irish individuals and UK individuals for the fact that we’re bringing these people here and they’re taking jobs and taking places to live.
‘And then we get flak saying why didn’t you help Syrians or the Palestinians? If the Government waived work permits and visas for the Syrians and the Palestinians, I’d help them too.’
Mr Dunwoody gives credit to the Government for waiving entry requirements but is critical of housing failures and the way arrivals from Ukraine are being dealt with.
‘A lot of it is to do with how the Government handles and administers things, and certain things they haven’t particularly done a great job at. If systems were better run
‘If you hit 100,000, it’s a 5% population increase’
we would be better prepared for this. The Government likes to claim they set up PPS centres at the airports but last week there were people going in at the ports and they hadn’t a clue what they were to do.’
Mr Dunwoody expects arrivals from Ukraine to be substantial.
‘I think, realistically, you’re talking close to 80,000 to 100,000. That’s a massive jump. If you hit 100,000 you’re talking about a 5% population increase,’ he said.
‘There’s a lot of things that will challenge this. We are in the middle of a housing crisis, an energy crisis, an inflation crisis.’
Although he fears the housing crisis might ‘be the straw that breaks the camel’s back’ with regard to refugee numbers, he is adamant that getting people jobs is the best solution.
‘There are vacant properties, and a lot of Government ministers and TDs have a number of houses and apartments and stuff like that.’
One of those TDs – the Dáil’s biggest landlord, Michael Healy-Rae – also spoke to the MoS this weekend.
‘I want to see the people coming here,’ he said. ‘I want to see them being helped. I want to see them being given refuge. But we must have common sense about it too. We can’t have students travelling distances next September because they won’t have any accommodation. That’s not sensible either.’