Careers and Jobs

Working from home in Ireland

Many Outplacement or Career Coaching clients I meet often dream of working for themselves or working from home but will unfortunately they will never take the leap or experience the huge benefits. They offer a variety of reasons against this move – lack of know-how, the risk element, fear, financial insecurity, lack of support and many other reasons.

Reasons for home working, teleworking or remote working

These are very valid reasons to remain in the security of a 9-5 job BUT you could equally argue “is there such a thing as a secure 9-5?” Open any newspaper and you will see many rocks of the Irish economy crumble particularly in Construction and Manufacturing but more alarmingly the Retail and Financial Services sectors.

Add to this the increasing pressures on workers particularly with multinational environments but also Irish SME. 9-5 is more like 8-6. I don’t know any employees who work a normal week except perhaps public sector. And what about getting to work and getting home again. M50 M50 M50!!!

I made the leap and I know many others who have successfully made the leap. I commute to work in my pj’s and must say I do not miss office or commuting. I don’t mind risk and this I feel is the biggest hurdle to overcome. I spoke with Kevin Donohue of val.ie today who has a company which supports individuals working from home. I feel this initiative can act like a comfort blanket for those thinking of making the leap BUT also a valuable marketing tool for those currently working from home.

Happy Home Working

Expect the announcement today of congestion charges for Dublin in a new “pay-as-you-drive” scheme. The system will be similar to that introduce and operation in London. This scheme will be introduced to help top up government coffers due to reduced funds following the crash in the property sector. Or is it to address the traffic problems in the Dublin city center.

This plan is called “Sustainable Transport and Travel” and has an aim to promote the use of public transport over cars and free up congestion levels in the city. The system will work similar to tolls. Workers will pay to enter the city center cordon.

Government says that this is a necessary move because;

- Average rush hour speeds have dropped from 13km/hr in 2006 to 8km/hr today.
- Care usage is increasing obesity in Ireland.
- Increased traffic pollution is causing health problems

Will this plan improve the situation and reduce congestion or will things remain the same but just more expensive. Let’s face it the tool has not deterred workers from using the M50. Feedback from London suggests that the project will work as it has reduced car numbers by 20% but the jury is still out in Ireland.

This government announcement coincides with Work Life Balance day on 29th February. The WLB day is a great initiative and promotion WLB awareness. Unfortunately for workers in Ireland thought things just seem to be a downward spiral making Ireland a difficult place to work with little WLB.

Construction Jobs in Ireland

If you have been hibernating for the last year you will have missed the fact that the golden sector of Ireland has stuttered and is grinding to a halt. Negative news about the housing sector and of course layoffs and job losses. I have had numerous conversations with people inside and outside the construction sector and I have received contrasting opinions about the actual impact.

Today I was reading the Jobs & Careers section of the Irish Independent (no relation) and I could not help notice something strange about the construction jobs section. OK – it has been shrinking in size for some time BUT most of the agency advertisements were for overseas jobs and careers. Australia, New Zealand, London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi were some of the locations listed.

Micheal O’Leary was complemented about his honesty on his recent assessment of the aviation sector. Can an advert titled “downturn – what downturn” in the construction jobs section be a complemented for its honesty. Interestingly the same advert indicated it has career opportunities home and ABROAD.

Can we put a positive spin for those affected by the construction sector decline?

The above locations have a better climate, better work life balance with no M50.

Careers and Jobs will increase by 180,000 in Northern Ireland if plans go ahead to reduce corporation tax rate to 12.5% (similar to the Republic). Not only are we shopping in Newry and Belfast but according to some analysts we could soon be working there too. Will Inward Foreign Investment into the North compliment the South or cause further pain and job losses? Will job announcement like this week in Tralee soon be a rare event? Many would argue that they already are. Businessmen, politicians, IDA and Sir Anthony O’Reilly think it will be a benefit for the whole Island.

Careers in Northern Ireland.

So what would be the benefits for jobseekers working in the North. I will list some that spring to mind but feel free to add to the post.

1. Beef Sausages
2. Better roads
3. Potato bread and Soda’s
4. Better work life balance – No more M50 or Mad Cow Roundabout
5. Tennent’s and Harp (only joking)
6. IKEA

When you are changing jobs do you care about corporate social responsibility? Do you analyse a potential employer’s stance on the environment or impact on the environment? According to one Sunday paper we now consider this as an important factor when making career decisions. We are attracted to and choose organisations that look after mother earth.

I have been working with jobseekers for years, individuals starting out on their career to those at various rungs of the corporate ladder. I have never had this discussion. Ok – one time a girl indicated that she did not want to work in the pharmaceutical sector as she was against animal testing. Many (myself included) pay lip service to the subject. We talk the talk but do we always walk the walk. Do I unplug every plug before I go to bed at night? Have I ever put a milk carton in the black bin when the blue bin was beside it? Do I drive to the local shop when it is 10 minutes walk away? At the end of the day for most the decision to take employment will normally be based around money and package or work life balance factors such as location. Corporate social responsibility is a “would be nice” factor but certainly not an “essential” factor.

On another point, do organisations really care? Call me a cynic but is it not all about the dollar. I sometimes think that organisations spend more on PR to get the message out that they care than they actually spend on helping the environment. Do companies want to be seen to care or do the actually care?

It’s official – we all knew it but the facts now prove it. It takes Irish workers an hour on average to get to work each day. This is twice as long as it did 5 years ago. In 2003 we took about 29 minutes to get to our job but now it takes 55 minutes. That means that we are traveling for the equivalent of 12 working weeks a year. Even more depressing is the fact that a survey before Christmas indicated that only 6% of Irish workers survey loved their job.

What can you do?

There are two options available. Try to find a resolution with your employer. Many employers appreciate the hardships on staff caused by daily commutes as many suffer with their staff. There are many possibilities to explore such as remote working, flexi-time or a condensed working week. If this is not possible the other option is to find alternative work.