The growing number newly qualified chartered surveyors choosing to work in Britain is being blamed for an “acute shortage” of property professionals in Ireland.
The claim comes from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI), which is also blaming a decline in the number of students graduating from property-related college courses for what it describes as a “perfect storm” skills crisis for employers.
An SCSI survey carried out earlier this year predicted a shortfall of 265 surveying professionals by 2018, based on a two per cent growth in Ireland’s economy. “This figure could rise to as high as 1,500, based on a more optimistic estimate of three per cent growth,” commented the society’s director of education and membership, Zoe O’Connor.
She said the shortage has also been exacerbated by strict new rules brought in by the newly established Property Services Regulatory Authority in 2012, which require all property employees to hold a relevant degree or to have served three of the past five years working in the sector.
This year, only 60 students graduated from Ireland’s three institutes of technology which offer property courses — at Bolton Street, Galway Mayo and Limerick — down from around 200 a year at the height of the country’s building boom. There are claims that at least two-thirds of the latest batch of professionals has found work in Britain.
“With the recovery gathering pace, demand has spiked,” O’Connor added, “and employers are becoming very vocal about their concerns.”
A number of Ireland’s larger agents are now offering student mentoring programmes, or employing students on a part-time basis. “In order to get a hold on their future professionals, employers are starting relationships with students that will continue after graduation,” she said.
Irish salary levels for graduate surveyors and other building and property professionals have increased about 10 per cent since the start of the year.
“There is huge competition among employers to attract and, crucially, retain key employees,” explained recruitment specialist, Avril Clare, who has set up a new property desk at the Dublin-based agency RecruitmentPlus. “Candidates have a great advantage in the current market.”
RecruitmentPlus has also formed a partnership with Realta in the United States and Office Recruitment Partnership in the UK in an effort to highlight the opportunities in Ireland.
“We are beginning to see an increasing number of Irish qualified candidates who emigrated during the downturn to countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates who are now looking to return to Ireland,” said Clare.
Previous Post
NewRiver Retail acquires Morecambe Shopping Centre
