Ireland is benefiting from one of its biggest ever surges of inbound talent migration with 20pc more professionals coming to Ireland than leaving the country in Q2, according to research from LinkedIn.

The sector attracting the most professionals was software, reflecting Ireland’s emergence as a major European start-up and multinational hub, followed by professional services, hardware, healthcare/pharmaceutical and retail/consumer.

Italy (16pc) was the biggest net contributor of professionals to Ireland, followed by Latin America (14pc), France (13pc), Asia (8pc) and Eastern Europe (8pc).

The industries losing the most professionals in Ireland were the financial services and insurance, architecture and engineering and the manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Demand for talent

The countries that attracted the most talent from Ireland were the UK, United Arab Emirates, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

The UK attracted almost half of the professional talent that moved, according to LinkedIn’s data.

Professional social network LinkedIn has 380m users worldwide, including more than 1m in Ireland.

‘There’s an increased demand for talent in the Irish economy illustrated by the number of professionals moving to Ireland to take up positions’

– SHARON MCCOOEY

The LinkedIn data for Q2 2015 also points to increasing confidence among firms within the Irish economy, with strong growth in business development functions, which indicates that organisations are investing in expanding their capacity to serve new customers.

“According to our data, there’s an increased demand for talent in the Irish economy illustrated by the number of professionals moving to Ireland to take up positions, particularly in the technology sector,” LinkedIn senior director Sharon McCooey said.

“This reflects Ireland’s popularity as a place to do business, and the economic turnaround, which has seen more firms increase their headcount.”

LinkedIn is in the process of building a new international headquarters in Dublin that has the potential for doubling its workforce from 600 to 1,200 people.

Looking for tech jobs in Ireland? Check out our Featured Employers section for information on companies hiring right now.

Ireland map image via Shutterstock