In a jobs-rich marketplace employees are better able to take secondary factors into consideration when deciding where they want to work and live.
As the capital city, Dublin will always have a variety and concentration of industry above and beyond the rest of the country. While this reputation and energy appeals to a lot of people not everyone wants to live in an expensive, quick-paced and congested city environment.
As more and more people seek out a good standard of living and a high quality of life they are finding that these two expectations are not mutually exclusive, especially in the regions.
"Many companies and corporate interests are finding that they have a staff turnover rate of about 25 per cent," says Michael Mullally, chief executive officer, Millennium Park, a technology parkland that has been developed near Naas, Co Kildare. "It's not that people are not happy with their jobs. Rather the problem is related to the cost of problems of staying in employment, such as childcare, accommodation and transport," he says.
Located just beside Naas and less than five miles from the N7, the Millennium Park development has been built with all the problems and frustrations of the modern workplace in mind. "People in the city spend a lot of time going to and from work every day and they are just spending more and more time as the congestion gets worse," says Mr Mullally.
When the park becomes fully operational in a few months Mr Mullally contends that many of its workers will be drawn from surrounding urban centres like Kildare, Naas and Newbridge and will have only a short commute to work every day. "Even those who need to come from further afield like Monasterevan will be able to get to the campus in half an hour with the new bypasses being built in the county." And for those companies who still need to do a lot of business in Dublin, Mr Mullally says that the park is only 15 minutes from Newlands Cross and the rest of the city.
Parking - another major expense and source of daily strife for workers and companies in the city - is catered for by extensive car parking lots on a site that will have up to 10,000 workers. An on-site creche for workers has been incorporated into phase one of the park, the developers are seeking planning permission for a commercial/retail area centre at the heart of the parkland and, finally plans are in the pipleline for executive housing on an adjacent plot as well as a 500-pupil national school. These features are essential if the park is to answer the difficulties faced by modern workers, contends Mr Mullally.
"Take the creche, for example. These are only to be found in a smattering of places in Dublin and that is not good enough. The workplace has changed and it is very likely that both parents will have to stay in work. Millennium Park sets a standard that will become a trend in the regions. In the 1970s the IDA identified the need and potential of a 'neck-lace' of industrial and commercial centres around the outskirts of Dublin. This policy worked and now the private sector is engaged in a similar exercise, only this time it is technology parks around what are the outskirts of major urban centres," says the former IDA Ireland official. Good employment conditions, interesting work and career prospects are added to by the surrounding advantages of being in the countryside. He adds: "House prices are less than Dublin, and the quality of life overall is second to none."
These sentiments are shared by Carlow's county manager Tom Dowling. The County Council, with IDA backing, are also developing a £100 million business and technology park outside Carlow town. Apart from the benefits it will bring, the county itself has a lot to offer, says Mr Dowling. Investors, when looking at areas for investment are looking at much more than the level of grant aid available and are looking at accessibility, workforce availability, quality of services, attractiveness of the area and the ability of the area to retain a workforce because of the quality of life.
