Skilled Labour 2009 (country score)

Ireland	7.90
Japan	7.24
USA	6.67
Germany	6.49
France	6.06
Netherlands	5.96
Hungary	5.74
U.K.	5.60
C.Republic	5.58
Portugal	5.16
Spain	4.36
Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009

Labour Productivity GDP per person employed per hour, US$

Ireland	49.63
USA	47.78
Netherlands	45.74
Germany	41.26
U.K.	39.08
Spain	38.62
Japan	37.28
C.Republic	27.44
Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009

Flexibility & Adaptability of Workforce 2009

Ireland	7.85
USA	6.98
Netherlands	6.91
U.K.	6.31
Portugal	5.92
Japan	5.71
C. Republic	5.46
Germany	5.27
Spain	4.89
Hungary	4.00
France	3.78
Source: IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009

Workforce / Education in Ireland

One of the reasons why so many companies choose Ireland is because of the unique workforce –Ireland has the youngest population in Europe with over 35% under the age of 25 years

Surveys show that foreign investors consider the quality and the ‘can do’ flexible attitude of Irish people to be two of the country’s greatest advantages

New entrants to the workforce ( school leavers, immigrants and women) ensure labour availability in the future

Ireland has one of the best education systems in the world according to the independent IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 (ranks 8th). Almost 1 million people are in fulltime education

In 2006, 40.2% of the population aged 25-34 in Ireland had 3d level education compared with 28.6% across the EU27

The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 ranks Ireland’s education system 8th from 57 countries and 8th for level of university education meeting the needs of a competitive economy.

A high percentage on new entrants to third level education choose Business, Engineering or Computer Science courses.

In the Shannon Region, the University of Limerick (UL) is one of the foremost Technological Universities in Ireland. 12,000 students are enrolled in full and part-time degree programmes up to Doctorate Level. UL operates one of the largest mandatory co-operative education programmes in the EU. 2000 students are placed each year – 30% of them abroad.