Donald Trump victory triggers surge in jobseeking in Ireland

US-based online searches for jobs in Ireland and Canada rise 91% following election

Donald Trump with retired US army general Michael Flynn during the campaign. The “widely unexpected” election result has led to a surge in those looking for work outside of the US. Photograph: Reuters/Mike Segar
Donald Trump with retired US army general Michael Flynn during the campaign. The “widely unexpected” election result has led to a surge in those looking for work outside of the US. Photograph: Reuters/Mike Segar

Donald Trump's election has triggered a spike in the number of US-based people seeking jobs in Ireland.

US searches on recruitment website Indeed. com rose 91 per cent in the immediate aftermath of Mr Trump's victory.

The figures show job searches to Canada increased 10-fold within an hour of the result being announced.

"Our data shows that a highly charged and competitive election campaign, followed by a widely unexpected result, led to an immediate and sharp spike in overseas job searches by Americans," Indeed economist Mariano Mamertino said.

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“ Much had been made in the media during the election campaign of the potential for such an outflow of labour in the event of a Trump victory,” he added. “But it remains to be seen whether these job searches will translate into a movement of workers.”

Mr Mamertino said Ireland joined Canada and New Zealand among the top three countries attracting interest from people in the US after the election result.

Brexit fallout

Another large English-speaking economy, the UK, was outside of the top five, he said. “As the fallout from the Brexit vote continues, this may indicate increased uncertainty about that market among job seekers.”

In the 24 hours after the June Brexit vote, Indeed’s website recorded a 250 per cent jump in UK searches for jobs in Ireland.

The figures also show that on a four-week moving average basis, the increase has been sustained in the long term, and was higher at the end of September than in the immediate four weeks following the vote.

Jobseekers from the EU, excluding the UK, now account for more than 9 per cent of searches on Indeed.ie, up from 7 per cent before to the referendum.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times