New way of working and living in Ireland

outlooks

I was reading the news today about rents/housing and future plans, how 34bn over 35 years is needed and so forth just to make Dublin grow. Basically housing in Dublin is a problem with no solution apparently and more people are either leaving or not moving to Ireland (Dublin).

As more companies settle in Ireland and with more jobs being created, the concept of working remotely seems to make more sense. I guess if one works with post/paperwork that is not easy but all ICT jobs, Customer Service, Operational type of job which requires mainly a computer and a phone can be performed remotely. If more and more companies adopt this model, entire families can relocate to other parts of the country and have a more balanced life. It also means less pressure on the house market in Dublin and a better distribution of skills across the country.

More business would be generated in local/small communities to cover demand and the government could actually spend the money creating a network to connect the different cities and towns.

Food for thought.

MarkAnthony

It would be a logistical nightmare, some companies do it, on an outsource basis generally, and as an ancillary to the office based work force.

That aside the broadband outside of urban areas is **** and you're very limited as to Landline provider (usually just Eir) if you're a townland address. Most companies require secure LLs to be put in place and domestic BB doesn't allow VPNs - again generally.

So while is a semi-good idea I can't see it happening. I can't see decentralisation either. Why not open the call centre in Longford if that's the issue.

newacc2015

Most people will not work remotely. It is not good for someones mental health to have minimal interaction with people. If you look at all the IT companies in Dublin, they place a massive importance on teams. If you are alone on a computer in the middle of no where. You will be isolated, have lower productivity as you dont feel part of a team and you aren't engaging with colleagues.

A lot of people dont want to live outside of Dublin. If you look at the Irish moving to Canada or Australia. They all moved to massive cities with less job opportunties. But they placed a greater importance on living in a big city with a good social life, than living in an isolated oil producing town in Canada.

Dublin has a massive housing / infrastructure problem as the Government has being throwing money at rural Ireland hoping it has a future. It doesnt really, but ideas like forcing people against their will to some god forsaken town aka decentralisation gives some people hope that rural Ireland might grow after several decades of decline

There is an article on bloomberg.com that says if the US wants to be more competitive, it needs more Americans to move into denser cities. Your suggestion is the total opposite. Dublin has gotten no major infrastructure projects other than the Luas and M50 upgrades over the last 30 years. If you dont fund a city, issues like congestion emerge

flas

MarkAnthony wrote: »

It would be a logistical nightmare, some companies do it, on an outsource basis generally, and as an ancillary to the office based work force.

That aside the broadband outside of urban areas is **** and you're very limited as to Landline provider (usually just Eir) if you're a townland address. Most companies require secure LLs to be put in place and domestic BB doesn't allow VPNs - again generally.

So while is a semi-good idea I can't see it happening. I can't see decentralisation either. Why not open the call centre in Longford if that's the issue.

The prison service was decentralised and moved to longford a few years back,big new purpose built office block on the by-pass,about an hour and half drive back to dublin. Broadband doesn't seem an issue, there is another quite large government building in the town as well,the train goes by it as its going into the town from Dublin side.

Its not a bad idea to try and spread out jobs around the country,just need political will,which doesn't really seem to be there, imagine if most towns had sustainable employment,how much better the country would be,a pipe dream in the current 5-10 year boom bust get rich quick cycle this country seems to be on, a hiding to nowhere...

odyssey06

There's a huge push in Irish IT for 'agile' work involving co-location e.g. teams located together.
After all, if you can do the job with a phone and network connection from middle of nowhere Ireland, you can likely do it from India.
And to be able to recruit staff for teams you need the large pool of workers from a big city.

PhoenixParker

The whole idea of decentralisation, be it government or private companies, ignores the modern reality that most of the workforce are trying to balance two incomes in one household.

Above entry level, it's difficult enough to find two jobs within reasonable commutes of a third location in Dublin, never mind trying to do that in Longford or Clonmel. Added to that you've the knowledge that if you ever want to change jobs you'll either need to be very lucky or you'll need to move to a new location.

matrim

MarkAnthony wrote: »

It would be a logistical nightmare, some companies do it, on an outsource basis generally, and as an ancillary to the office based work force.

That aside the broadband outside of urban areas is **** and you're very limited as to Landline provider (usually just Eir) if you're a townland address. Most companies require secure LLs to be put in place and domestic BB doesn't allow VPNs - again generally.

So while is a semi-good idea I can't see it happening. I can't see decentralisation either. Why not open the call centre in Longford if that's the issue.

Almost all domestic BB supports connecting to a VPN as a client. This is what's needed for remote working. Although the speed being good enough for productive remote work varies a lot.

MarkAnthony

flas wrote: »

The prison service was decentralised and moved to longford a few years back,big new purpose built office block on the by-pass,about an hour and half drive back to dublin. Broadband doesn't seem an issue, there is another quite large government building in the town as well,the train goes by it as its going into the town from Dublin side.

Its not a bad idea to try and spread out jobs around the country,just need political will,which doesn't really seem to be there, imagine if most towns had sustainable employment,how much better the country would be,a pipe dream in the current 5-10 year boom bust get rich quick cycle this country seems to be on, a hiding to nowhere...

I actually agree with you on government decentralisation. That can be moved out of Dublin but they're not telecommuting as suggested in the OP they're opening centralised offices. The prison service is a very good example, that should be out of Dublin - it's about time the Joy was closed, the land redeveloped and the super prison was opened. The same should happen for Cork's old prison.

matrim wrote: »

Almost all domestic BB supports connecting to a VPN as a client. This is what's needed for remote working. Although the speed being good enough for productive remote work varies a lot.

While I'm sure you haven't troubled yourself to read the T&Cs of several, or even your own, BB providers and I don't blame you I don't read EULAs you'll find that domestic broadband providers tolerate it, don't offer support and are likely to change a service which could lock employees out of connecting to their employers by inadvertence or otherwise.

cgcsb

Remote working has been mooted since about 1970 and hasn't really taken off. People need to meet eachother in person.