THE Irish Government has confirmed its commitment to nurturing more home-grown talent, following the publication of a global labour competitiveness study that ranked Ireland 10th out of more than 90 countries.
The international study found that a lack of investment in apprenticeships and other forms of “on-the-job” training created obstacles to labour flexibility in Ireland, who are placed behind Britain (seventh), the US, Denmark and Luxembourg.
Ireland had however, risen eight places from the 2013 findings – the same year that the then Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn announced an independent review of apprenticeship training in Ireland.
Some of the recommendations from that review – which are expected to be legislated for – included extending apprenticeships to a minimum of two years, with half of that time being spent on the job as well as widening the number of industries to which apprentices can contribute.
“Ireland’s ranking in the top 10 highlights the country’s strong performance in many key areas of labour competitiveness,” a Government spokesperson told The Irish Post.
“The Government is taking ambitious steps as regards apprenticeships, acknowledging that in the past this important labour market intervention was not given the priority it deserves.”
The Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2014, by business school INSEAD and recruitment group Adecco, surveyed the labour market patterns of 93 countries.
The research found Ireland performed strongly in attracting international talent, but failed to nurture young “home-grown” talent.
It also highlighted the need for more Government investment in second-level education.
In a nod to the value of supporting the next generation, the Irish International Business Network (IIBN) in Britain launched its Future Leaders Programme in 2014.
It offers young professionals valuable experience via a network of mentors who have already achieved success in Britain.
Mentor and former IIBN Co-Chair Andy Rogers believes many young workers turn to Britain for opportunities not available back home.
“People left Ireland because there hasn’t been the range of indigenous jobs in the Irish economy that we would prefer to have, we have a lot of multi-nationals,” he said.
“A huge effort is now going into the creation of indigenous businesses in Ireland. All across the country there are local enterprise teams that are organising and helping those small businesses to get off the ground.”
Speaking about the IIBN’s mentoring initiative, Mr Rogers added: “There are 25 people currently in the Future Leaders Programme. The hope is that a number of them will want to go back to Ireland in due course and create businesses.”
