Local workforce gain most as EI supports 21,000 jobs in 2015

Michael Cogley

Most of the roles being announced by Enterprise Ireland (EI) are being filled by Irish people, according to the firm's global executive director, Kevin Sherry.

Last year EI enjoyed one of its most successful years as it achieved record jobs growth paired with the lowest level of job losses among its firms in 15 years.

Major investments from Glanbia, FoxPro, and Eristic, among others, helped EI create 21,000 jobs with partner companies.

Many of the roles that have been announced by EI require high levels of maths skills and training. Despite claims of skills shortages at home, Mr Sherry says that employers have been able to recruit locally.

"The vast majority are being filled by Irish people. You also see it's an international marketplace, so you see people in Ireland who have multilingual skills, who have experience of working for companies outside of Ireland. "For us it's about the skills and expertise that companies can identify and recruit here," Mr Sherry said.

Mr Sherry says that EI will continue to centre on employment growth within Ireland.

"For us, as an organisation, we're all about employment within Ireland. We want to build and sustain a growing economy here and help companies of scale in Ireland that can grow and sustain that employment in Ireland," Mr Sherry said.

Last year EI reported an increase in all sectors and regions. Employment in 2015 jumped by over 1,000 in the food and drink sector while ICT and non-food manufacturing experienced jumps of over 6,000 and 4,000 respectively.

Dublin garnered the largest increase of jobs of 3,615, bringing the total number of EI-supported jobs in the capital up to 66,866.

Other large increases were noted in the south and south east.

Mr Sherry described 2015 as a very strong year for Enterprise Ireland. He said that "2015 was a very strong year for EI and its clients. It was the highest ever employment growth in record for EI and the lowest level for job losses.

"With over 21,000 jobs created, it brings total employment in EI companies up to over 192,000," Mr Sherry said.

Agriculture, technology and business process outsourcing sectors were key performers amongst Enterprise Ireland-supported companies last year. The 21,000 jobs amounted to a net increase of 10,169 jobs once job losses were taken into account, meaning that EI-backed firms lost 10,831 jobs.

The total employment figure at EI-backed firms stands at 192,223.

EI also reported an increase of the portion of female entrepreneurs within its High Potential Start Up programme.

Participation among female entrepreneurs within the programme increased to 20pc, up significantly from previous years where it languished between 5pc and 7pc.

EI also looked to up its game in terms of startup funding last year, According to the figures, around 500 startup companies were invested in by EI.

EI is looking at further regional growth.

While growth was reported in each region last year only Dublin, the south-east, the south and the mid-east, experienced increases of over 1,000 new jobs in EI firms.