Permit numbers for non-EEA workers down by a quarter in 2023

The total number of employment permits issued by the Department of Enterprise and Employment to non-EEA nationals allowing them to work in the State fell by almost a quarter last year, with a slump in tech sector applications accounting for more than half of the total drop.

Health and social work activities was the sector to which the largest number of permits was granted in 2023. Of a total of 30,981 successful applications over the course of the 12-month period, just under a third, 10,037, went to doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants and other healthcare professionals or support staff.

The challenges faced by the information technology (IT) sector, particularly through the early to middle part of the year, are evident in the figures with the number of permits granted more than halving between 2022 and 2023, from 10,832 to 5,009.

The numbers in the financial and insurance industry were also down by a third, from 3,351 to 2,373 while those for hospitality were down very slightly at 2,606.

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In terms of individual employers, various public hospitals and healthcare groups feature prominently in the figures, with the Cork University Hospital, University Limerick Hospitals Group and St Vincent’s in Dublin among those at the higher end of application numbers.

Tech firms were well represented despite upheaval in the sector, with Google supporting 302 applications. The group’s monthly figures dropped into single digits through March, April and May before increasing again. Intel, Tokyo Electron and WuXi Biologics were each listed as the employer in almost 200 instances.

Professional services providers Accenture and EY are also prominent in the list, with the latter linked to 385 successful applications, the largest number for any individual employer.

Indian workers were again comfortably the biggest nationality group within the permits, with more than a third, 11,893, going to Indian nationals, although that number was down by nearly 4,000 on the previous year.

Brazil and the Philippines were the only other two countries on the list with more than 2,000 permits granted.

The total number of permits issued across all sectors in 2022 was 39,955. Minister for State Neale Richmond has said he expects the numbers issued to return to previous levels this year.

He recently announced changes to the permit system, including significant increases to the minimum rates of pay required for workers in particular sectors.

The changes, which come into effect next week, were welcomed by various industry groups but also prompted some criticism, particularly regarding the amount of notice given.

Separately, the number of collective redundancy notices sent to the Minister for Enterprise last year, was up by 50 per cent on 2022 although the numbers largely returned to previous levels over the closing four months of the year.

Under Section 12 of the Protection of Employment Act 1977, employers proposing a collective redundancy must notify the Minister of their plans. The precise requirements vary according to the size of the company and the number of redundancies proposed.

In 2022 there had been a total of 115 notices involving an anticipated 7,173 workers. Last year, those numbers rose to 172 and 11,544, respectively.

Almost exactly half of both figures were accounted for by the first four months of the year, with the corresponding figures for the final four months dropping to 46 and 2,060 respectively.

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