Ireland – A High Demand and Challenging Location

As Ireland continues to be a hot spot for global mobility, we face ongoing challenges in this high demand destination. Ireland’s advantageous corporate tax offerings make it a desirable location for companies, particularly large technology companies that have created a higher-than-normal demand for services and housing. This has created somewhat circular challenges – a housing shortage and excess demand for destination services providers.

The demand for housing continues to rise while supply remains low. Mergers and acquisitions and group moves continue to put a further strain on the already tight housing market. We currently see overbidding on list prices, multiple/competing offers on rentals, 20+ applicants per rental property, and property owners being more selective of their tenants. All of these factors make it difficult to secure housing quickly.

Destination Services Providers (DSPs) are also impacted by the high demand for services, low supply of housing, and difficulties in securing showings of properties. Property showings have been reduced to 1-2 over a span of days from the previous norm of 6-10 properties per day, slowing the process of locating suitable housing. As a result, we have seen a number of our DSP partners pivot and adapt their service delivery model. Being consultative, agile, and ready to support ad-hoc viewings means a typical one-day home search may now need to be spread out over a number of different days. This is causing an impact on scope and pricing of moves.

It is important that the correct expectations are set with both the DSP and mobile employees. In this type of high demand market, the expectation should be set that:

• Locating housing must be made a priority
• Showings may take place over a span of time vs. within one day
• Quick decisions may be requested and needed due to the competitive nature of the market and multiple offers being received
• It is critical to review “perception vs. reality” with the DSP and the mobile employee; setting the correct expectations of availability, timelines, and housing challenges will ensure a successful engagement

How can Aires combat these challenges? Aires has proactively sourced additional qualified DSP providers, specifically in high-demand areas (Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick). Additionally, we recommend and guide our clients to ensure that the employee has sufficient support to meet these challenges by:

• Providing a minimum package of two (2) days of DSP services in order to offer some flexibility to work within the housing challenges
• Making certain that sufficient temporary housing is provided (30 days) to allow the employee the time needed to secure housing

For additional information or further discussion, please contact your Aires representative.