Affordable housing to buy or rent is the biggest challenge facing Dublin from a business perspective, a new survey of businesses in and close to the capital has found.
85% cited the issues of accommodation, when asked to list the top three issues facing the county, followed by poor transport infrastructure which was cited by 53% and skills and labour shortages which was highlighted by 44% of firms.
However, at the firm level over a quarter of Dublin businesses said attracting and retaining appropriately skilled labour is the biggest challenge currently facing their business.
Geopolitical or economic instability ranked second, picked by 19% of participants while 18% chose increased costs in their business as the greatest risk.
"We're hearing from Dublin firms that several factors, particularly childcare expenses and the lack of affordable housing, are driving current labour shortages," said Aebhric McGibney, Director of Public and International Affairs at Dublin Chamber which carried out the survey of members during the first quarter.
"Several firms have also noted that their growth post-Covid is back on track, but during what should be a crucial recovery period, they are saying no to business opportunities, as they simply don’t have the staff needed to deliver the necessary outputs to meet demand."
"Dublin Chamber calls on Government to build more houses in the city region and to ensure that a more steady supply of accommodation comes from existing zoned and serviced land."
Given how high those polled ranked the threat of a lack of skills, its perhaps unsurprising that more than two thirds said attracting, retaining and upskilling staff is one of their three top priorities for the year.
Managing the cost of doing business was chosen by three out of every five, while increasing sales domestically was cited by half of the companies surveyed.
Over two thirds of the businesses who took part in the research said employee health and wellbeing was among their Environmental, Social and Governance priorities.
This was followed by employee diversity and inclusion, cited by 58% and energy usage, picked by 55%.
Over a third of those surveyed said their business does intend to offer apprenticeships in 2023, but slightly more said they do not.
"We also asked firms that do not intend to offer apprenticeships this year to share why," said Mr McGibney.
"The most widely chosen reason was that it is 'difficult to identify an apprenticeship that meets the needs of our business/compliments current activities’ (31%) followed by ‘NA/Unsure’ (28%), ‘our business can’t meet the needs of the apprenticeship curriculum/necessary learning outcomes’ (22%), and ‘limited knowledge of apprenticeship process/supports in place" (13%)."
"It is interesting to note from these results that the main reasons firms are not becoming apprentice employers has less to do with financial capacity, though undoubtedly a challenge, and more to do with a lack of knowledge and bureaucratic barriers."
Almost three in four Dublin firms also said they do not believe that Government is meeting the urgent need to improve Dublin’s public transport.
