Intercountry hurler scores big in New York construction sector
Jer McCarthy, an Irish architecture graduate, successfully transitioned from a struggling construction career in Ireland during the 2008 recession to a high-level project management role in New York. His story highlights the impact of economic migration and the transferability of professional skills in the global construction sector.
Why it matters
It illustrates the long-term personal and professional outcomes of economic migration triggered by the 2008 financial crisis.
The Great Recession proved a bitter pill for Dunmanway native Jer McCarthy. An architecture graduate from Cork Institute of Technology (now Munster Technological University ), McCarthy was happily employed locally in the construction sector at the time while also enjoying a successful inter-county hurling career.
When the bust hit as of 2008, construction collapsed, he was put on a three-day week and, with no prospect of an early recovery, emigration seemed the only viable option.
“I remember an old-timer in the business who had seen this before and he told me the knock-on effects would last many years. I was a homebird then and it tore my heart out to go at the time, but I’ve not looked back since.”
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