'Impossible to find anywhere': Housing crisis impacting on company recruitment in Cork

THE housing crisis is impacting companies ability to recruit staff to Cork, according to a local recruitment agency.

With the cost of housing and living increasing, Denis Cremin of Sigmar Recruitment Consultants said the onus is on businesses to offer attractive salaries in a bid to attract the best talent to Cork.

Calls have also been made for the government to address the lack of housing supply in the region, in terms of both rental and purchase properties, in a bid to ensure prospective candidates have peace of mind when it comes to finding accommodation in Cork.

Sigmar Recruitment Consultants help people to relocate to Ireland, particularly for big life sciences, manufacturing and engineering companies in Cork.

Speaking to The Echo, manager of Sigmar’s Cork city branch, Denis Cremin said: “We have really found there is a housing crisis in recent years and prices have just rocketed which has affected the ability to bring quality talent to the city.

“It is a barrier in terms of attracting quality workers to the area.

“Internally, even in our own business, we have people who are struggling to find accommodation here to be able to join us here in the office,” he added.

“We have one member of staff who is living an hour and a half away and has been looking for accommodation closer to Cork city to be able to be office-based but it’s just impossible at the moment.

“It’s definitely affecting recruitment in Cork.”

While the housing crisis does not impact people in the early stages of recruitment, Denis explained that the issue does come up when people are offered jobs here in Cork.

“A lot of the time, the issue only arises when it comes to the offer stage and all of a sudden it comes to the point where they do have to possibly relocate — that’s when it becomes an issue.

Denis explained that there is an onus on businesses in Cork to ensure that salaries are attractive to potential employees, and that they make relocating to and living in Cork a viable option.

“Everything is rising at the moment and salaries have to match that,” he said.

“Housing and the cost of living is going up and that is driving the need for improved salaries, particularly when people are moving jobs and potentially, moving home.

“Salaries will need to be increased. If not, the good workforce will be attracted to other positions and other places,” he warned.

“There’s a potential skills shortage on the way and we need to be able to attract people.

“There is a big onus on businesses really to attract the talent and they will need to offer attractive packages to do that.”

COMPETITION IN MARKETPLACE

Meanwhile, Chief Executive of Cork Chamber, Conor Healy, highlighted the need for the government to play its part.

Mr Healy explained that simply increasing salaries will not address the lack of housing, and that the government must do more to ensure demand for accommodation is met.

“The primary issue with housing is that there is a significant lack of supply and that is creating a lot of competition in the marketplace,” he said.

“It certainly is difficult for people who are looking for either rental or purchase properties.

“From an employer point of view, there is a lot of activity and movement in the jobs market at the moment,” he added.

“There is certainly already salary inflation and I think employers in Cork are very much responding to the market in terms of offering appropriate levels of salary that is required to attract talented staff to Cork.

“I think that’s a separate issue to housing availability because, regardless of what salaries are on offer, it doesn’t resolve the issue of the lack of supply.

“The issue is around ensuring that the environment is correct in terms of the supply of housing and that’s where the government needs to do more to facilitate that activity.

“It’s a factor in any candidate’s decision making, regardless of where they’re moving to across Ireland, as to whether there is going to be accommodation that they can access, be it for rental or purchase.”

Mr Healy welcomed the recent Housing For All strategy which aims to set out a roadmap towards increased housing availability in both the rental and purchase sector in Ireland for years to come. However, he said it needs to do more in terms of facilitating the development of rental properties in Cork.

“Housing For All as a strategy is welcome but in cities like Cork, there is a significant need for apartment development which is seeing the greatest level of demand at the moment to facilitate the rental market particularly,” explained Mr Healy.

“The rental market isn’t viable at the moment and the measures announced by the government with regards to enabling apartment development don’t go far enough and an awful lot more will need to be done.”

BREXIT

Meanwhile, Mr Cremin explained that the fallout in the UK from Brexit has created an opportunity for Ireland to benefit from overseas investment and a workforce that might once have gone to our close neighbours.

He did warn, however, that the housing crisis may impact Ireland’s chances of securing that investment and workers.

“The UK market is very unsure and very uncertain at the moment and a lot of European and American businesses will be looking at Ireland.

“They would have looked at the UK previously but I could imagine Ireland getting an influx of foreign investment as a result of Brexit.

“There is an onus on the government to ensure supply but businesses and business owners will have to attract workers,” he added.

“Housing prices are rising and we need to move with it to ensure we can attract people to come and live and work here.”

The Department of Housing was contacted for comment in relation to this story.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said the Housing for All strategy aims to provide 33,000 new homes annually, increase housing affordability and create a sustainable housing system nationwide.

They explained the plan contains a range of actions to ensure that over 300,000 new social, affordable, cost rental and private homes are built by 2030, with an investment of €20 billion planned.

“There will continue to be a need for affordable accommodation to rent and to buy to meet demand arising in Cork City,” they added.

“The LDA is active in Cork and in Cork Docklands in particular, and will deliver social and affordable cost-rental homes, which will have a positive impact on affordability.”

The spokesperson highlighted the recent Lancaster Gate development in Cork city where Clúid Housing and Cork City Council with support from the Department of Housing are delivering 73 cost rental homes.

“The aim of Housing for All is to see developments such as this one, delivered at scale, for those hard-pressed renters, who are above the social housing income threshold.”

The spokesperson stated that the plan also commits to providing affordable homes for purchase and reducing residential construction costs.