Remote and hybrid working are not a passing trend. They are now a normal part of working life in Ireland. This matters most for employers hiring outside Dublin.
Recent European research, reported by RTÉ, backs this up. Ireland is now ahead of the EU average for remote working. And the gap keeps growing.
The numbers at a glance
- Across the EU, the share of people working from home at least sometimes rose from 8% in 2015 to 22% in 2024.
- Ireland had one of the biggest rises in Europe. Germany, Belgium and Finland saw similar jumps.
- 7% of Irish workers are now fully remote. That’s more than double the EU average of 3%.
If you’re hiring in Kerry, Cork, Limerick or anywhere outside the capital, take note. A hybrid or remote job no longer just competes with the business down the road. It competes with employers all over the country.
A bigger pool of candidates, if you’re ready for it
Picture a typical Kerry employer hiring for an office job. In the past, they’d look at people in Killarney, Tralee, Listowel, Kenmare and nearby towns. Offer hybrid work, and that pool grows across Munster. Offer fully remote, and you can pick from the whole country.
This matters most for jobs that are always hard to fill, such as:
- Finance and accounts
- IT
- Digital marketing
- HR
- Sales and business development
- Admin
- Engineering design
- Professional services
It also helps people who might otherwise struggle to find work. This includes people with caring duties or health issues that make travel hard. Irish research backs this up too. Flexible work genuinely helps these groups get jobs.
Not every job can go remote, and that’s fine
Some coverage of this topic skips over this point. Remote work suits desk jobs. It does not suit hotels, healthcare, building sites, factories, transport or farming. There’s no point pretending otherwise.
The gap between sectors is huge. Between 2015 and 2024, home working rose by:
- 41 points in financial services
- 7 points in construction
- 5 points in shops and hospitality
Many of our clients run hotels, restaurants, care homes and building firms. For them, remote work just isn’t on the table. That’s not a flaw in the business. It’s just the nature of the job.
These employers can still offer flexibility, just not through remote work. Set rosters help. So do shorter working weeks, flexible start times, the odd admin day at home, or letting staff have more say over their shifts.
The real question isn’t “can this job be remote?” It’s “what flexibility can we offer without letting down customers or staff?”
Candidates weigh up more than pay
Picture two job offers. One pays slightly more but means five days in the office. The other offers two days at home each week. Once you factor in travel time and cost, the second job often wins. This matters most for people crossing counties, or heading into a city each day.
Flexible work gives candidates:
- Less time and money spent on travel
- More control over their day
- Access to jobs outside their own area
- More time with family
- A better mix of quiet focus time and time with the team
Struggling to fill a role? Be clear about the setup in the ad itself. This can lift the number of people who apply. State plainly:
- How many days are needed on site
- Whether those days can change
- Whether the same rules apply during probation
Vague terms like “flexible” or “hybrid” cause real problems if left unexplained. You get people applying who aren’t a fit. Candidates drop out mid-process. Offers get turned down. We see this often, and it’s an easy fix.
Remote work needs rules, not just trust
Letting staff work from home is not a policy on its own. You need clear rules on how the team stays in touch, who’s available when, and how you keep data safe. You also need a clear way to judge performance. Managers must judge the work done, not just who’s in the room.
A good remote or hybrid policy should cover:
- Which roles can do it
- Days needed on site
- Working hours and contact hours
- How you’ll measure performance
- Gear and tech needed
- Keeping data and information safe
- Health and safety
- Rules for meetings and check-ins
- When you’ll review the setup
- The right to switch off after hours
On the legal side: staff in Ireland have a legal right to ask for remote work. This is not the same as a right to get it. Staff can usually ask from their first day. But they need six months in the job before a new setup can start. Employers must usually reply within four weeks. There are some limited cases where this can run longer.
Are you writing or changing a remote work policy? Get proper legal advice on it first. Small errors here can turn out costly.
What this means for Kerry and other regional areas
Here’s the good part for places like Kerry. Remote and hybrid work let skilled people stay put, while working for firms based anywhere else in Ireland, or even abroad. That keeps talent local, instead of losing it to Dublin or Cork. It’s also helping people move home after years abroad. They can live near family while keeping a job based elsewhere.
But there’s a flip side too. A bigger pool for you also means your local candidates get chased by firms with no base in Kerry at all. You’re no longer just up against the business down the road. Pay, flexibility, career growth, good management and culture all carry more weight in that fight now.
What employers should actually do
Look at each role on its own merits. Don’t set one rule for the whole business. Talk to the people doing the job about how it really gets done. Don’t just guess based on the job title.
Where remote or hybrid work truly fits, say so clearly, right from the first line of the job ad.
Where it doesn’t fit, think about what else could make the job appealing. Set rosters help. So do flexible hours, extra leave, training, and a clear path up the ladder.
One thing to avoid at all costs: advertising a job as hybrid, then quietly pushing for more office days later. Candidates notice this fast. A broken promise on working setup damages trust, and people leave because of it.
We’ve seen this play out with a Kerry based client of ours. When they moved several roles to hybrid, they saw a real lift in output from some staff. These were people who worked better with quiet days at home mixed with time in the office for teamwork. The same firm also tried fully remote work for a couple of roles. It didn’t work as well. Output actually dropped. Some of this came down to less daily contact with managers and colleagues, not any fault of the staff themselves.
The lesson isn’t that hybrid always beats fully remote. It’s that the best setup depends on the person, the role and the manager, just as much as the policy itself. Some people thrive with full freedom. Others need the structure that even two office days a week gives them. Employers who treat this as a case by case call, rather than one rule for all, tend to get better results.
What jobseekers should ask before saying yes
Look past the number of days at home on offer. Before you accept, ask:
- Is this in writing, in your contract or the staff handbook, or just spoken?
- Are office days fixed, or can they change later?
- What’s expected of you during probation?
- How often will you need to show up for meetings or events?
- Could working from home hurt your training or your chances of promotion?
- Will you get the right gear to do the job properly?
- How exactly will your work be judged?
A remote job isn’t always the better choice. Some people do their best work around others. Others need quiet and space to focus. It comes down to the person, the role, the manager and the firm.
The bottom line
Remote and hybrid working are here to stay. This isn’t a fad that will fade. For employers, especially those chasing hard to find skills outside Dublin, flexibility is now a real tool for hiring and holding onto staff. For jobseekers, it opens the door to employers you’d never have considered without moving house.
There’s no single setup that fits every business. The employers who do best look honestly at each role. They explain the setup clearly, and they build in flexibility wherever it can genuinely work.
Red Chair Recruitment works with employers and candidates across hospitality, healthcare, construction, finance, IT and professional services, all over Ireland. We Get People, and we get what makes them stay. Get in touch to talk through your hiring needs, or to see current jobs.
Frequently asked questions
Is remote work common in Ireland? Yes. Ireland sits above the EU average. The share of people working from home at least sometimes rose by around 20 points between 2015 and 2024.
Do staff in Ireland have a right to work remotely? They have a right to ask. They don’t have an automatic right to get it. Employers must weigh up requests fairly, in line with Irish law and the Workplace Relations Commission’s code of practice.
Which jobs suit remote work best? Finance, tech, admin, professional services and education roles suit it well. Jobs that need face to face contact with customers, physical work, building sites, healthcare or hospitality shifts usually don’t.
Does hybrid work actually help with hiring? Often, yes. A clear hybrid setup can widen your pool of candidates and make a job more appealing. The effect depends on the role, the location, the pay, and what your target candidates actually want.