Though 2018 has so far seen an impressive amount of jobs announced across the country, April was relatively disappointing. Does it bode badly for what is yet to come this year?
Welcome to the latest instalment of the monthly jobs round-up, where we review the announcements that have been made and see which areas won out, which areas were neglected and what the most in-demand roles are right now.
Relative to the strong performance of February and March, April was rather underwhelming in terms of job creation. A total of 1,090 new roles were announced around the nation this month, 400 of which were only announced in the last few days.
These 400 jobs were spread between two large announcements. The first came from US cloud services company New Relic, which revealed that 200 new positions will be created at its new European headquarters at Golden Lane, Dublin 8.
Global forklift manufacturer Combilift also announced that it will hire 200 across a range of areas at a new €50m global headquarters and manufacturing facility in Co Monaghan.
The next-largest announcement came from payments giant Mastercard, which has a total of 175 roles up for grabs for software engineers, data scientists and blockchain specialists in Dublin.
There was also good news for the greater Leinster area as pharmaceutical outsourcing firm PCI Pharma has confirmed that it will bring on 120 new employees at its facilities in Drogheda, Co Louth, and Stamullen, Co Meath.
As we’ve previously stated here, we’re always pleased whenever jobs get announced in more regional areas, so it was great to see Sligo also get a boost with the news that AI intelligence bot creator and Microsoft partner LiveTiles will be setting up an AI innovation centre in the Connacht country and bringing 50 jobs.
Close to 50pc of all announcements this month, however, were made in Dublin. Alongside those already mentioned, there were 100 jobs revealed by global satellite communications company Viasat and 60 jobs with digital advertising agency Strategem.
BDO’s merger with boutique management consultancy firm Eaton Square also generated 100 new positions, which the company said will be spread between BDO offices in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. It is as of now undetermined how many of the 100 jobs will be in each respective area.
A total of 80 jobs were announced in Cork this month. Cloud data management firm Rubrik will take on 50 new employees at a new centre in Cork city, while Spearline will recruit an additional 30 hires in Skibbereen to facilitate the roll-out of a new GDPR-compliance service.
Overall, this isn’t a hugely pleasing result for regional development. The IDA has previously expressed a specific desire to bring more foreign direct investment to regional areas and, while it has had some amazing wins on that front so far in 2018, April left much to be desired. Hopefully, this is a blip in the year and that subsequent months will bring less-centralised job creation.
To take a look at the jobs revealed this month, check out the links below.
1. Mastercard announces 175 new skilled jobs at Dublin office
Mastercard is hiring data scientists, software engineers and more for its Dublin base.
2. PCI Pharma Services to bring 120 jobs to Louth and Meath
PCI Pharma Services will add a total of 120 jobs to Leinster by increasing the headcount at facilities in Drogheda and Stamullen.
3. 65 new jobs as Dublin digital agency Strategem is acquired by US firm
Strategem to offer 65 new roles and be rebranded Connelly Partners (Dublin) following takeover.
4. New Relic to hire 200 at new European HQ in Dublin
New Relic opened its first European HQ in Dublin in 2014, and this move to a new space at Golden Lane will allow it to grow its employee headcount to 300.
5. LiveTiles to build innovation centre in Sligo and bring 50 jobs
LiveTiles will expand into Sligo to support the further development of its design and AI products.
6. BDO Ireland merger with Eaton Square will create 100 jobs in Ireland
Two Irish firms have joined forces to combine their experience, extend their client reach and to help businesses through turbulent post-Brexit trade changes.
7. Spearline creates new business division and brings 30 jobs to Skibbereen
Spearline will recruit 30 staff before the end of the year for its new division in risk, compliance and data protection.
8. Satellite player Viasat to create 100 new jobs in Dublin
Viasat moves into new Dublin offices with room for 250 people.
9. Monaghan gets a lift with 200 new jobs
Global forklift manufacturer Combilift will create 200 jobs across a range of areas over the next three years.
10. Rubrik to create 50 roles in Cork at new cloud data management centre
Rubrik will broaden its operations in Cork as part of continued investment in expansion throughout Europe.
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