Information technology, electronic engineering and sales management are the sectors where demand for returning emigrants is strongest, according to Irish recruitment agencies.
Many agencies now use the Internet to publicise, throughout the world, opportunities in Ireland, while others organise regular recruitment missions to Britain, Europe and the US.
Ireland's largest agency, the Marlborough Group, is sending a recruitment team to Australia this month. "It's ironic that many Irish left our shores for Australia in slave ships and now we're flying over trying to attract them back," says Mr Adrian McGennis, group manager at the company. He says demand here is greatest for IT specialists and engineers, closely followed by sales and general managers, accountants and people in the multi-lingual sector.
Returning emigrants have become more choosy, unlike "a few years ago when people would jump at the first opportunity to come home, even if it meant a sizeable drop in their salary. Now they expect to be able to do as well, if not better, than they were doing abroad," he says. According to the latest CSO figures, most expatriates are coming home from Britain, the US and Germany. Last year there were 44,000 immigrants, almost half from Britain, 8,100 from the rest of Europe, and 6,600 from the US.
Over 41 per cent of immigrants were in the 25-44 age-group, while almost a third were in the 15-24 age group. The figures also show that the gap between the number of immigrants and emigrants almost doubled last year to 15,000, the highest since the late-1970s.
"In certain sectors, it's driving up wages way out of line with inflation," says one agency boss.
That may be good news for some expatriates. But not all have found the jobs market here entirely welcoming. "Many people have difficulty slotting into a job which represents a continuation of their existing career," says Ms Nuala Gildea of the new Returned Emigrants Group. She says experience and qualifications gained overseas did not necessarily open the same doors in Ireland.
Ms Caroline Lacey, managing director of the Dublin-based agency High Skills Pool, admits this has been a problem in the past. "But now it is very much in vogue for employers to hire employees with experience and qualifications from abroad".
As well as IT and electronics, Ms Lacey says demand here is strong for skilled people in telemarketing and construction. However, she says, "people in some sectors like marketing, PR or teaching may find themselves on the dole for a little while."
While most returning emigrants are seeking jobs in Dublin the demand is by no means limited to the capital, says Mr Colman Collins, joint managing director of Collins McNicholas.
"A lot of people are coming from busy cities and are precisely trying to avoid the city life and heavy commuting associated with a place like Dublin. Instead, they're looking outside to Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford."
Between 15 and 20 per cent of the people on the firm's live data base of 25,000 people are now expatriates, he says.
A popular route home for expatriates working in multinational companies abroad, he says, is to "parachute" into the domestic market by moving to a subsidiary in Ireland. "They might stay for one or two years with the company and then start looking around for other opportunities." They then have already paid all their moving expenses.
