A simple answer for the staffing crisis

Staff shortage getting you down? Contact Dalmac Language & Recruitment today. That the economy is performing well is old news now. What a lot of people aren’t aware of is that the Celtic Tiger would be roaring even more ferociously were it not for the crippling effects of both skilled and unskilled staff shortages.

To sustain, develop and expand a business - be that in haulage or any other line of work - reliable motivated staff is essential. But workers are scarce now and the cliche being bandied about by economists is that we’ve gone from being a country with loads of people and no money to one with loads of money and no people.

Staff shortage is the most worrying symptom of the booming economy. One solution is to source staff from outside the country.

This may sound like a drastic move. It is anything but.

Specialists
Already, it is being practised by a growing number of Irish companies from all corners of the market. Dalmac Language & Recruitment is a professional recruitment agency which specialises in the recruitment of staff from EU and non-EU countries alike.

The agency was set up as Dalmac Language by Anne and Desmond McCrudden in 1989 and initially specialised in teaching English as a foreign language to people from all over the world. As part of this language business (which, incidentally, has grown every year since its inception), an au-pair product was added in 1998. This led to the addition of Dalmac Recruitment which is licensed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Anne reflects: “When we started with the au-pairs, a lot of them were also looking for work. We began to arrange this and soon word got around and people were coming to us to see if we could organise staff for them. We recognised that there was a niche in the market connecting staff with suitable employees and vice-versa.”

Dalmac Language and Recruitment now specialises in the recruitment of foreign staff. The company boasts agencies in most EU countries - Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal - as well as outside the EU in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Belarus, Bosnia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and they’ve recently broken into China and Tunisia. The band of countries continues to widen.

Wide Range
Dalmac works with employers from a wide range of professions and trades, covering everything from farmers to builders, hotel and catering to truck drivers, engineers to computer technicians.

“When we started, it was very much farm labourers and general operatives who were employed through this scheme, but it has since grown to incorporate a wide range of professions. And that list is growing all the time. Indeed, this week, I’ve just received two excellent CVs from qualified doctors! No matter what an employer is looking for, if we don’t have suitable people on our books already, we will get them,” says Anne.

“We spend an enormous amount of time travelling abroad and making contact with reputable new agents to bring the best calibre of worker into the country. We have a total of 2,000 CVs on our books at the moment.”

Skilled personal
These are all people ready and willing to work in an ecomony in danger of beginning to stagnate due to a decided shortage of workers. It is important to note that these people are not refugees - they are well educated, skilled personal who are prepared to work but cannot do so in their home country (where high unemployment and low wages are usually rife).

“All foreign workers who are placed in Ireland are issued with a permit from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment,” notes Anne McCrudden. “This is secured by Dalmac on behalf of the employer and is exclusive to that employer. The maximum duration of the permit is twelve months but, if everything goes smoothly for both parties and they seek an extension, then a second year can be arranged.”

Interviews
Sometimes, Dalmac arranges so that the prospective employer can accompany them abroad to interview potential employees themselves. “We basically arrange interviews for people who have the requested skills. We organise all the paperwork right through the whole procedure from initial contact, to interviews, to flights abroad, the acquisition of permits and flying the new employees into the country.”

Anne has no doubts as to the importance of the service her company is providing: “The shortage of staff in this country is alarming,” she points out. “Thousands of people are needed. There just aren’t enough people in Ireland at the moment to carry out all the work that needs to be done. Drivers are very much in demand. All the best drivers are being headhunted and most haulage companies are experiencing severe difficulties both finding new drivers and holding onto existing ones.”

Drivers
To this end, Dalmac has recently recruited a number of foreign drivers for a major Irish-based international haulier. Notes Anne: “It’s not as if these guys haven’t a clue what they’re at. They’re all fully qualified, experienced drivers who are prepared to work. They have experience of driving on the continent and provide the obvious solution to a crisis that is affecting the Irish haulage industry.

“We also have a huge number of excellent mechanics on our books. Everyone in Latvia and Lithuania has served in the army and they all have qualifications as mechanics and are extremely skilled in that kind of work.”

So, how does one go about enlisting employees through the Dalmac service? “All they have to do is give us a ring, telling us what kind of staff they’re seeking. We will send out a detailed information pack, explaining in full the various steps of the process. We will also send out a sample of approximately 20 relevant CVs just to give an idea of the type of worker we have on our books. 99% of all enquiries we receive end with a foreign worker being employed. We can meet all requests. This is definitely the answer.”

What is the time frame involved, say, from initial contact to the employee’s first day at work? “It will come down to the amount of time it takes to get the permit through . . . six weeks is a very good guide. So it pays to think in advance and do a bit of forward planning. If a company anticipates a busy period or an increases in the demand for labour, then they should contact us at least six weeks in advance just to be on the safe side.”

Back-up Service
One of the real pluses of Dalmac Language & Recruitment is that they also offer a comprehensive back-up service. For example, if a foreign worker decides to leave a company, the agency will replace that worker free of charge for the remainder of the agreed period.

The back-up service is there for both the employer and employee. “Workers can come to us and tell us if anything is wrong and, if the complaint is legitimate, we will address the situation. There are rules which must be adhered to and we are determined that nothing untoward should be happening. We guarantee that everything will be above board. We give an undertaking to the agents abroad that we will look after their people when they come here and we do precisely that. At the same time we ensure that the interests of the employer are also safeguarded.”

Everybody should be happy then.