The investment will go towards scaling the firm’s manufacturing capability and drive export activity, supported by Enterprise Ireland.

The quality control division manufactures products for a number of multinational in-vitro diagnostic companies. “Technopath’s breakthrough technology is the culmination of a five-year programme of research and development and €6m investment,” said Technopath co-founder Malcolm Bell. “We have developed a number of proprietary technologies, launching our first product in this division less than four years ago.”

Technopath’s long-term growth strategy is to develop niche, innovative, breakthrough technologies and to deploy these technologies worldwide, bringing the benefit of enhanced quality and cost savings to 20pc of patients around the world in the next two years.

“This is exemplified by our recent global product development, supply and distribution agreement with Abbott Diagnostics,” explained Bell. “Technopath is actively developing a number of additional innovative products for the global biopharmaceutical and dairy sectors that can address the significant un-met needs of these industries.”

“A central part of the Government’s plan for jobs and growth is creating a powerful engine of indigenous enterprise,” said Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD. “Over recent years we have established major strengths in key sectors such as ICT and life sciences – we must now build on this to get more indigenous companies growing to scale, exporting more and creating more jobs.”

The Succeed in Ireland initiative was launched in March this year with the aim of creating 5,000 jobs within five years by targeting international companies and business people for Irish employment opportunities.

Today, IDA Ireland and ConnectIreland announced that this initiative has begun to make an impact, with news that Intergeo Services will establish its EMEA headquarters in Carlow, creating 30 jobs over three years.

The environmental contracting company, which provides unique design and build services in the bio-engineering sector, will start recruiting civil engineers, environmental engineers, quantity surveyors, and finance and administrative support staff for its new HQ immediately.

“It is a really exciting time for our company as demand for our services continues to grow,” said Archie Filshill, president and CEO of Intergeo Services. “We are confident that Ireland offers us all of the necessary components to assist us to internationalise our business, such as access to markets, a skilled workforce and a pro-business environment.”

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD, said: “Succeed in Ireland is a crucial part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, and will allow Ireland to attract jobs from companies that would not otherwise be reached by the State’s enterprise agencies. Today’s announcement of the first jobs to be created by the programme, by a small, innovative international company in a regional location, is evidence of the great potential of the initiative. I urge people to get involved in this great programme, and look forward to further announcements in the future.”

IGNITE provides start-up funding and free incubation space, mentoring and support to graduates of any higher education institution who are interested in starting up a new business

The nine-month programme will accept 10 applicants and any recent graduates with a viable business idea (from any discipline and any third-level institution) are encouraged to apply.

Some of the products developed by participants in the IGNITE programme over the last two years include a smartphone app for oncologists, and websites StudentNews.ie, PetConnect.ie and Supply.ie, in which Enterprise Ireland recently invested €25,000.

“We believe that this programme is most appropriate for the times in which we live,” said Rónán Ó Dubhghaill, director of strategic planning at UCC. “The programme is an ideal bridge between the knowledge gained at third level and the challenges of starting up a business in the current economic environment.”

The closing date for applications is 1 June.

Version 1 made today's announcement in Belfast alongside Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment Arlene Foster, MLP.

Invest Northern Ireland has offered stg£359,000 of support, partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, for the centre.

The positions available in the new centre include opportunities for senior and junior Oracle consultants.

“Northern Ireland has a highly educated talent base of IT professionals and we look forward to establishing a strong and successful team," Version 1 managing director Justin Keatinge said.

“Version 1 was the first Irish company to become an Oracle Platinum Partner. We are committed to continuously investing in and developing our partnerships and we are delighted to be in a position to further expand our Oracle expertise to deliver innovative solutions and services for our customers," Keatinge added.

Version 1 provides complete end-to-end IT solutions and employs 300 staff at its Dublin headquarters and regional offices.

Privately funded since its inception in 1996, Version 1's major shareholders are founders Justin Keatinge, John Mullen and company director Tom O'Connor. The company has grown strongly in recent years; revenues increased by 40pc in 2011 to €24.5m (stg£20m) and forecasted growth in 2012 stands at 25pc.

Customers include Airtricity, the energy provider; 123.ie, the insurance provider; Irish Life, the financial services provider; Telefónica O2, the communications provider; and many state agencies and government departments, including Land & Property Services, the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, and the Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport.

In an effort to investigate what good and bad working habits exist in the Irish workplace, Microsoft asked employees about their bad tech habits. Most employees admitted that neglecting to back up was their worst, with 31pc saying they have never backed up their data.

And it’s not all work-related data, either, with 28pc of employees admitting they use technology in the workplace for personal use, while 32pc store personal data on a work device.

This highlights some Irish employees’ lack of concern for security, as 22pc don’t delete data after use and another 22pc don’t sufficiently ensure the security of devices they are using.

While the majority (71pc) of workers would like their employer to show greater flexibility and almost half (46pc) feel at their most productive when working at home, the potential for developing a mobile workforce is compromised when 1 in 5 employees can’t be trusted to work securely.

Perhaps employees with bad tech habits just need to be told what for; after all, 38pc of employees surveyed wish their employers gave them ‘warts and all’ feedback to aid their growth.

The company is already transferring its data centre to Ireland and has started recruiting for 50 new jobs with the potential to create a further 20 new jobs over the next 18 months as part of an IDA Ireland-supported investment.

“Smartbox first opened an Irish operation when it established its European Shared Services Centre in Swords, Co Dublin, in 2009,” Erwan Corre, COO of Smartbox, explained.

"This operation has been highly successful and as a result of this, Ireland will now play a major role in our plans to maintain industry leadership and expand geographically to build a dominant global presence,” Corre said.

The jobs to be created are in the areas of IT infrastructure, software development, supply chain management, digital, B2B, project management and financial management operations.

The establishment of this international centre will result in particular in the Irish operation taking full responsibility for the development of new Smartbox technology platforms to be used for global expansion.

Flow of investment in the coming months

“A central part of the Government’s plan for jobs and growth is developing and deepening the impact of multinational companies here, and targeting high-growth sectors and companies which have the potential to create large numbers of jobs,” said Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.

“Smartbox is one such company operating in one such sector, and today’s announcement that this young company is expanding its operations here and substantially increasing its employment is great news and further evidence of what is possible in a stable Irish economy.

“By implementing the Government’s plan for jobs and growth, I am convinced that we will see a continued flow of investment and jobs from multinational companies in the coming months,” Bruton said.

Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland, described the global leader and the inventor of the experience gift box concept.

Smartbox currently employs close to 1,000 people worldwide and offers high-quality gift boxes containing a directory of amenities and a voucher enabling the customer to choose between hundreds of selected experiences. Each gift box typically offers between 40 and 2,000 options depending on activity choice or theme, such as 100 hotels in a region, 1000 spa retreats, 50 golf weekends, and 200 culinary delights.

“The expansion of the Smartbox mandate in Ireland positions the Irish operation as a strategic partner with the parent company, enabling it to grow and expand the business to new markets and customers around the world,” O’Leary explained.

“The increase in the Smartbox mandate here displays the company’s confidence in Ireland as a location for its international operations. Ireland provides Smartbox, and companies of its calibre, with a highly skilled English language and multilingual workforce, operational flexibility, a stable business environment and among all a strong IT infrastructure,” O’Leary added.

More than a quarter (27pc) of people who admitting padding their CVs said they subsequently lost their job when the false information was later discovered, the survey by FindLaw.com reveals.

Eight per cent of US respondents said they have embellished or exaggerated information pertaining to their skills, education, work experience, or professional credentials on their CVs.

Yahoo's now-former CEO Scott Thompson recently stepped down from his post when what Yahoo! called an 'erroneous error' was uncovered on his CV.

Three per cent of the FindLaw.com survey respondents said they were not offered a job after the padding on their CV was discovered.

"With the internet, employers now have more means to verify information on a CV," said Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney and editor with FindLaw.com.

"Even connections with other people via social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn can reveal inconsistencies with the information that you are presenting to employers. In this age of social networking, people need to be careful not only that their information is truthful and accurate, but also that they are not saying one thing to one person or company, and something different to someone else - whether it's an employer, prospective employer, friend, family member or acquaintance.

"Our survey found that when someone provides false information on a CV, more than one-third of the time - 36pc - the deception is later discovered," said Rahlfs. "And the most common result is the loss of a job."

The Springboard courses will focus on developing expertise in sectors that have been identified by Forfás as having the greatest future skills needs and job opportunities, such as ICT, medical devices, the green economy, pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, and international financial services.

“Our indigenous technology start-ups and SMEs need people with high-level ICT, business and international sales and marketing skills,” said Frank Ryan, chief executive of Enterprise Ireland. “The Springboard students who graduate over the coming years will have the skills to allow them to take up the opportunities that indigenous companies can offer and they will provide those companies with the types of skills that can drive new business and export growth.”

For the first time, these higher education places include opportunities for people who were formerly self-employed, giving them the option to upskill or reskill and then, perhaps, create new start-ups.

Tailoring education to fulfil business needs

Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland, has welcomed the development, saying, “It is vital that job seekers focus on areas where there are current and future job opportunities. Programmes like Springboard and the ICT Conversion Programme have provided companies with the opportunity to engage with higher education providers to tailor programmes specifically to the needs of their businesses.”

The first 3,500 graduates from Springboard 2011 will be available for employment at the end of this month and O’Leary is confident they will be in significant demand.

WebElevate, an honours degree-level programme, is seeking applicants for its third round, starting in October this year. Part of the Springboard initiative from the Department of Education and HEA, the course is free to unemployed persons currently claiming Social Welfare payments.

The latest iteration of the course will include a new stream focused on developing talent for the digital games industry in an effort to address the high number of jobs unfilled in this and other tech industries in Ireland. Mobile application development, web commerce, digital marketing, web video production and online publishing will also form part of the coursework for 200 job seekers.

“Today's announcement is a significant boost for the technology and digital games sectors, and for the 200 job seekers whose talents will be developed through our WebElevate programme,” said Paul Dunne, CEO of the Digital Skills Academy. “Our programmes are designed to be industry-linked and demand-led. Our focus is on moving people from sectors that have been worst hit by the recession; building on their existing skills and layering on new knowledge and skills to make them employable in the digital sectors, where there will be continued jobs growth.”

For more information or to apply, visit the website.

Career advice from Ursula Burns

Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, is the first African-American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company. In an interview with Marketplace, she was questioned about her management style, which has been called ‘hard-charging’. Burns’ response reflects what it takes to get to the top of a company.

“You have to have a very strong opinion with some facts and data to stand it up, you have to prove that you are right more times than you are wrong, and then you better walk into the room with something to say because otherwise you don't really add a whole lot of value to the group.

“So if you are going to be in the group, I want you to actually come in … and have an opinion. And I don't mean just opinion like, ‘I like blue or I don't like blue.’ This is, ‘We have this problem. Here is my take on the problem, here's what I've learned. My experience is telling me this and this is how I would approach it.’"

Career advice from Virgina Rometty

For IBM Corporation president and CEO Virgina Rometty, the career lessons began early, at home.

“Remember that you can do anything you want to do,” Rometty said in Fortune.

“Don't let anyone say, 'You're not smart enough ... it's too hard ... it's a dumb idea ... no one has done that before ... girls don't do that.' My mom gave me that advice in 1973. And it allowed me to never worry about what others were saying about my career direction.”

That advice certainly seems to have served Rometty well – she has been named to Fortune magazine's “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” for seven consecutive years.

Career advice from Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at the recently IPO-ed Facebook, talked about women taking a backseat to men when it comes to career at the 2011 IGNITION conference in New York. She poo-poos that notion and hints that if women want career success, they have to make it happen themselves.

“Men always lean forward in their careers, no matter where they’re going, and women more often lean back,” said Sandberg. “And that’s a huge mistake — because the person leaning in will one day be your boss.”

Career advice from Marissa Mayer

Over at Google is the company’s first female engineer Marissa Mayer, who is now vice-president Search Products & User Experience. In an interview for the Campaign for the American Conversation, she offered this bit of career advice: “find your rhythm”. She is referring to a management tool, using the example of a father who needs to pick up his kids at a certain time every day.

“If Joe needs to pick up his kids every day at 6pm don't make him late,” she said. “Make sure your employees have room to keep their rhythm - it'll make them happier and much more successful.”

“You can't have everything you want, but you can have everything that matters to you," she said, and added there’s no such thing as burnout.

“Burnout is about resentment. It's about knowing what matters to you so much that if you don't get it that you're resentful.”

Career advice from Caterina Fake

Entrepreneur Caterina Fake, the founder of Pinwheel and co-founder of Flickr and Hunch, advises people to “make mistakes rapidly, learn from them, and move past them.”

Fake expands on her advice by using the early days of Flickr as an example in an interview with Inc.com.

“George Oates (a Flickr employee) and I would spend 24 hours, seven days a week, greeting every single person who came to the site. We introduced them to people, we chatted with them. This is a social product. People are putting things they love - photographs of their whole lives - into it. All of these people are your potential evangelists. You need to show those people love.

“We did all kinds of dumb, stupid things. But our unofficial slogan was, ‘F--- up fast.’”

IBM Ireland currently employs in excess of 3,000 people in Ireland and its current business activities include research, software development and services at its technology campus in Mulhuddart, together with locations in Cork and Galway. A European Sales and Services Support Centre is based in Blanchardstown, Dublin.

CEO of IDA Ireland Barry O’Leary said Ireland has been chosen as the location for this investment based on the strong partnership with the country, its accessibility and connectivity, established industry clusters, and the infrastructure the country has to offer.

IBM employs 433,000 people globally and had revenues of US$106.9bn for the financial year ending December 2011.

IBM has been focusing in particular on its SmartCloud offerings. The company manages massive amounts of data and client transactions in its cloud environments, including 1menterprise application users working on the IBM Cloud; more than US$100bn in commerce transactions a year in the cloud; and 4.5m daily client transactions conducted through the IBM Cloud

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD, met senior IBM executives along with the IDA on a recent trip to the US. “This decision by IBM, one of the world’s leading technology companies, that it is locating more innovative operations here with the creation several hundred jobs, is great news for west Dublin and Ireland,” he said.

Ireland's FDI record continues

This week, Ireland was named best location in Western Europe to invest and Dublin was named the best metro area to invest in Western Europe by Site Select, an international magazine. Welcoming the creation of the hub, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, said the investment by IBM is welcome news for Ireland.

“The decision by IBM to locate a Global Services Integration Hub in Ireland follows on from a significant number of FDI announcements in recent months from world-leading multinational companies which proves the value of economic stability in attracting new investment. It also demonstrates the value of Ireland's position in Europe when it comes to our ability to attract overseas investment. Today’s announcement displays IBM’s continued commitment to its Irish operations and staff.”

IBM, or ‘Big Blue’ as it is known in the technology industry, celebrated 100 years in business last year. The company was formed on 16 June 1911 in New York by Charles Ranlett Flint as the Computer-Tabulating-Recording Company.

It now employs more than 433,000 people worldwide, has revenues of more than $100bn and, according to Fortune magazine, is the seventh most-profitable company in the US. It also holds more patents than any other US technology company.

IBM came to Ireland in 1956 with a room above the Shelbourne Hotel. Today, it employs 3,000 people across Ireland, with the majority based at a state-of-the-art campus in Blanchardstown.

IBM’s presence in Ireland began to ramp up significantly during the 1990s, beginning first with call centre and PC support jobs in Mulhuddart, but growing steadily in sophistication to result in 3,000 employees based at a state-of-the-art campus in west Dublin.

Last year, the company announced extra 200 jobs in Dublin at its first-ever IBM Smarter Cities Technology Centre, which aims to revolutionise how cities provide services, such as water and transport. Many of the jobs will go to PhD graduates.

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, had a busy day today as, following the announcement of 200 jobs coming to Galway through Merit Medical Systems, he was also present at the announcement that Irish software company Copperfasten Technologies will create 37 new jobs thanks to a €500,000 investment.

Established in 2000, Copperfasten currently employs 15 people in Salthill, Galway, and is best-known for developing SpamTitan and WebTitan, which itself was partly funded by Enterprise Ireland.

This latest investment will help fund a significant export-led growth plan that is expected to more than treble the company’s sales over the next three years.

“Copperfasten has developed an enviable position competing in the same field as global names such as Symantec, Cisco and McAfee,” said Barry Egan, Enterprise Ireland’s Western regional director. “Enterprise Ireland is proud to support Copperfasten’s achievements and will continue to work closely with the company as it executes its export-led growth strategy.”

A second jobs announcement for the Western region

“We are delighted to make this announcement today which will allow us to continue to build on our success to date and increase the footprint of our products internationally,” added Ronan Kavanagh, CEO of Copperfasten Technologies. “We have seen fantastic adoption of our products and it is great to now be in a position to build on this. This investment and the new positions will allow us to drive sales and scale the company in the forthcoming years.”

Kenny also expressed his delight with the day’s second jobs announcement for the West: “This announcement by Copperfasten is great news for Galway, for the Western region and for the Irish software industry. This is a prime example of an Irish firm, investing in R&D to develop world-class products for export and growth at home and abroad.”

Today marks the official opening of Merit Medical Systems' expanded facility at Parkmore Business Park East in Galway. The €20m facility will result in 200 jobs in R&D, shared services, operations support and manufacturing, with at least 30pc of these going to third-level graduates.

Merit is a worldwide designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices used in interventional and diagnostic procedures. This investment, supported by IDA Ireland, more than double’s Merit Medical Ireland’s capacity in Galway, providing more than 75,000 sq feet of space, allowing for the expansion of R&D and other activities.

Centre of excellence

The Parkmore West facility, which now employs 379 people, is already a designated centre of excellence for Merit’s guide-wire technologies, but this state-of-the-art expansion will see it become a centre of excellence for a range of new products and technologies.

“Our high level of satisfaction with our Galway facility’s ability to take on new challenges and its successful track record in developing new products over the past 16 years were major factors in implementing this crucial investment there,” said Fred P Lampropoulos, Merit’s chairman and chief executive officer. “In addition, we believe the proven commitment of the Irish management team and workforce will help to ensure that these latest developments will be implemented successfully and result in the facility increasing its already significant role in our global business.”

“This IDA Ireland-supported investment is an important endorsement of the Galway operation, which has proven itself to be a key strategic location for the parent company,” said Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland. “Merit is an excellent employer in the West and is a key component of the medical device cluster operating successfully from the region. Ireland boasts an enviable cluster of medical device companies with 17 of the top 25 global medical-device companies having a significant presence here.”

Augentius Fund Administration provides outsourced fund administration services to the private equity and real-estate sectors. At 10 years old, the UK-based company is now expanding internationally, opening offices in New York, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Singapore, The Netherlands and, now, Belfast.

“As a business, we have continued to grow throughout the recession and needed to create a second operational centre to increase our capacity,” said David Bailey, managing partner and one of the founders of Augentius.

A significant milestone

Augentius’ plan is to establish an operational centre of excellence in the Northern Irish capital, with support from Invest Northern Ireland. Other locations were considered for the centre – including ones in Canada, China, India, Dublin and other UK cities – but the decision to locate in Belfast is a significant achievement for the city.

“This investment, the first ever from a London-based fund administration company, is a significant milestone in the development of the financial services sector in Northern Ireland,” said Foster. “Its decision to locate here reflects a desire by the company to maintain core service centres within the UK and the very strong reputation that Northern Ireland has built up as a cost-effective working environment with access to a skilled and educated workforce.”

These deciding factors were confirmed by Bailey: “The availability of high quality people along with a strong educational sector was one of the important factors to us when considering the locations for our investment and we are looking forward to working with Queen’s University and the University of Ulster going forward."

A strong reputation for staff development

The Belfast office will support clients locally and internationally and, while 17 jobs have been created there in recent months, this is expected to grow to 30 before the end of this year, and up to 164 by the end of 2014.

Bailey also gave some indication of the opportunities the company can offer: “Augentius has a strong reputation for the development of its staff. We take junior and part qualified accountants, train them in our sector and support them to obtain their professional qualifications. We have people who joined us as trainees and are now fully qualified accountants responsible for their own teams and clients and I am very proud of this achievement.”

Kenny is to attend the opening of a €20m facility in Parkmore as part of an investment supported by the IDA.

More than a third of the new jobs are geared toward graduates and the company is reportedly seeking to fill roles in manufacturing, operations support, and research and development, The Irish Independent reported.

Merit Medical, which has been in Galway for 16 years, employs 379 people at its Galway plant.

The company's medical devices are used in cardiology, radiology and endoscopy.

Over the past 12 months the company, which has its headquarters in Dublin, added 50 new positions to bring its total headcount to 170 people. By the end of this year it expects to hire 30 more people.

“While the new roles have been introduced across all functions of the business, the main reason for the increase has been the upsurge in the demand for Java and .Net developers,” said Tony McGuire, CEO of System Dynamics.

That demand is reflected in both the Irish and UK IT service business, McGuire said. Since its UK business was started in 2009, the company has built its revenue there to more than €2m to the end of 2011. It is anticipating further growth for this calendar year.

Last year, one of its major customer wins was a 12-month contract with Pernod Ricard in the UK, using experience gained in Ireland’s distribution sector to land the deal.

System Dynamics is implementing a tailored JDE implementation, providing Pernod Ricard with an integrated solution for financials, sales, procurement and inventory, while also integrating it with the drinks maker’s other back-office systems.

In its home market, McGuire has said the company has benefited from a growing trend towards flexible framework agreements in the public and private sectors. In these cases, pre-qualified lists of vendors replace old-style single-supplier tenders for IT projects as organisations look to get better value from IT deals and reduce their reliance on a single provider.

Originally established in 1968, System Dynamics has amassed a client list spanning central government and agencies, local government and the semi-state sector. It has private-sector clients in banking and insurance, utilities, pharma, oil and gas, manufacturing, distribution and transport.

Laya currently employs 343 people at its Cork headquarters.

The company today launched a new cardiac screening service called HeartBeat aimed at tackling sudden adult death syndrome (SADS) which takes the lives of two young people every week in Ireland.

The company also launched a new 3-2-1 offer on its Health Smart and Health Smart Family schemes, allowing people who switch to either scheme to receive three months of free health insurance cover.

Laya's healthcare policies are underwritten by Elips Insurance, a subsidiary of Swiss Re.

New consumer healthcare champion

Laya's chief executive Donal Clancy said the company is positioning itself to be the key consumer champion in the private health insurance market.

“All of us involved in the sector recognise that there are significant issues and problems which need to be resolved. For our part we, at Laya Healthcare, will do everything possible to ensure that our members have a strong voice from within the industry to champion their cause and to add positively to the national healthcare debate.

“Our new company philosophy is totally focused on securing the best possible outcome for our members," Clancy said.

Career and jobs resource Glassdoor provides a unique and intimate overview based on employee comments and ratings submitted to the site.

The jobs and career community uses information generated by employees about company benefits, salaries, interviews and more, to help users make good career decisions. And, just days away from what’s expected to be one of the largest IPOs to come out of Silicon Valley, they’ve provided us with an intimate look at the company behind the public offering.

An infographic produced earlier this year, pitting Facebook against its rival in recruiting the top talent in tech, shows that Google’s employee satisfaction levels are higher – though this was the first time in four years that they topped the social network in that respect. Besides, employee sentiment at Facebook is still riding high and Zuckerberg’s latest approval rating from his employees is at 94pc.

Handsome salary packets

And why wouldn’t they be happy with how their CEO is running things? It seems that Facebook’s perks, benefits and handsome salary packets can and do make plenty of employees happy. Glassdoor reports that the annual base salary of a user operations analyst is US$43,518, while software engineers receive US$110,874 and research scientists earn US$120,667. Even software engineering interns do well with a US$6,477 monthly base salary.

Though Facebook employees seem to be in an enviable position, it seems it’s not tough as nails to get there. Reports from Google towers claim an extensive interview process, but employees at Facebook gave their interviews an average difficulty rating, with 41pc saying it was a positive experience.

Facebook currently holds a 4.5 (very satisfied) overall company rating on the site, which is based on more than 140 reviews from employees past and present. While employee comments surrounding the upcoming IPO are optimistic and excited (though one mourns the loss of the start-up feel – there’s always one!), Facebook still may face a recruitment and retention challenge once the company goes public.

The app, appropriately dubbed Irish HR Law, is aimed at making employment law facts and regulations more accessible to employers. The free app, available now for iOS devices, is packed with key information on the basics of employment law, as well as an an A to Z of HR law terminology, and interactive calculators on adoptive leave, maternity leave and redundancy.

The employment law firm released the app in an attempt to share knowledge with clients and other stakeholders. “In creating this app, we wanted to make employment law accessible for our clients and that meant taking advantage of the more innovative online platforms available to us in order to communicate our knowledge,” said Duncan Inverarity, head of the Employment Law Group at A&L Goodbody.

A first for the law firm, the Irish HR Law app will give HR professionals, in-house lawyers and senior executives access to information on relevant legislation at the touch of a button.

Tools like this and the release last year of the electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB) - a free app for Android and iOS that contains Acts and Statutory Instruments from 1922 to date, as well as a legislation directory - show how new technology can be used to give legal professionals mobile access to extensive reference resources.

The new jobs are expected to include a technical architect, support engineers, software engineers and client services manager positions, the Belfast Telegraph reported.

Kainos now employs more than 300 staff at offices in Belfast, Dublin, London and Gdansk, Poland.

Kainos provides IT consultancy services to various industries, including the public sector and financial services firms.

“This is an ambitious investment by Kainos which aims to double its revenue over the next few years and further extend its market reach into mainland Europe and the USA," The Derry Journal reported Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster as saying.

“The company has built its success on innovation and through this new R&D project will further develop its solutions and services to ensure it maintains its lead in the area of electronic medical records management in the health sector.

“ICT is a key sector for Northern Ireland as it is helping to push economic activity up the value chain.”

The innovative Salary Checker iPhone app is free and gives users easy access to pay rates for contract and permanent professionals at all levels and across multiple industries.

The app automatically recognises the user’s location so all that needs to be submitted is their professional discipline and job title in order to view the current market rate.

With salary data for thousands of roles internationally, users can also view global pay rates, comparing their current salary with equivalents in Asia, America, Europe, the UK and South Africa. They can check how salaries have fluctuated in the past three years and share information they find on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and email.

The app also gives access to content from Robert Walters, such as job market updates and the Robert Walters Global Salary Survey.

This app could help professionals see if they are being paid correctly for their position and is just the first in a range of apps expected from Robert Walters in 2012.

Last October, Aviva announced 950 people would be made redundant at its Irish operation, starting in March 2012. However, the insurance company has now managed to scale back the number of job losses to 550.

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, TD, welcomed this announcement, saying, “A large number of people in Aviva will be made voluntarily redundant as part of this process, and are still facing a very difficult situation this morning. However, the news that the number of job losses will be substantially lower than originally announced is very welcome.”

Bruton was also pleased with news that the company will also be creating 220 new jobs in a new service centre in Galway, noting that this confirms Aviva’s long-term commitment to Ireland. The minister, together with his department and the IDA, have had numerous meetings with the company on these issues, and have been fully supportive of measures to minimise job losses and deliver centres of excellence in Galway. “I'd like to pay tribute to senior management, unions and workers for their hard work in reaching today's outcome,” he said.

The 220 positions will be created and filled over the next two years, in insurance claims and direct sales centres of excellence in Galway.

Unfortunately, there will still be 550 staff members asked to accept voluntary redundancy, with the company offering six weeks’ pay per year of service, capped at two-and-a-half years’ pay.

CashIQ, a free and instant business search engine, will more than triple its workforce over the next three years as it expands into foreign markets. This expansion will generate 45 new jobs in research, IT, and business development.

“If we are to create the jobs we so badly need, we must drive a powerful engine of indigenous business,” said Minister Richard Bruton, TD, commenting on the announcement. “We have seen over recent months the importance of FDI to our economy – but it is crucial that we also build a base of dynamic indigenous companies who can compete better in foreign markets and create more jobs.”

CashIQ is a powerful business search engine that offers free access to information covering all registered companies in Ireland and the UK, including financial analysis, company status, age and group structure, business activity, products and services, contact details, auditors, registered address, bankers, commercial legal judgements, shareholders, and current and past directors.

The new Irish company has been two years in development, supported by Enterprise Ireland, and has achieved private investment in the region of €500,000. It currently provides details for more than 8m companies and 15m directors and business owners in both Ireland and the UK, but now plans to expand its coverage to include major international markets, giving exporters a better understanding of who they are dealing with, providing sales and marketing leads, as well as a basic level of guidance in terms of financial status.

Headquartered in Dresden, Germany, ZMDI has 280 employees worldwide and is a leading supplier of innovative, highly precise, robust and cost-efficient analogue and mixed-signal semiconductors.

The Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, TD, announced today that the company’s Limerick R&D centre will provide 35 excellent employment opportunities in the mid-west region for talented engineering graduates and technicians over the next five years, with the support of IDA Ireland.

“IDA is very pleased to support this centre, as it will create highly skilled positions in a regional location, which is a key focus of IDA’s strategy for regional development in gateway locations,” said Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland.

ZMDI’s business line manager Bernhard Huber explained the company’s decision to locate in Limerick: “After considering a number of global locations for this strategically important R&D centre, we decided that Limerick was the perfect fit for our company due to the research expertise in the University of Limerick, the availability of engineering skills, the cluster of many leading players in electronics in the region and the support of IDA Ireland.”

Huber further stated that “ZMDI has made many global expansion investments in 2012 and our facility in Limerick fits prominently within that strategy.”

Each month, Morgan McKinley’s Irish Employment Monitor checks the pulse of the Irish professional jobs market by tracking the number of new job vacancies and new candidates across the country.

This month’s results show a marginal decrease (4pc) in the number of new professional jobs in the market compared to last month, dropping from 9,246 in March to 8,919 in April. However, looking back to this time last year shows an increase of 5pc on the April 2011 figure.

“This reduction is likely to be a reaction to the ongoing economic domestic uncertainty coupled with the recent European updates of double-dip recession,” says Karen O’Flaherty, COO at Morgan McKinley, explaining the month-on-month decrease. “Seasonally, it is also typical to expect protracted decision-making around the Easter and holiday period.”

The tracker also saw a 15pc decrease in the number of professionals seeking jobs in the Irish employment market since March, however, once again the figure is still showing a significant increase (63pc) on the same time last year. The April 2012 decrease can also be “largely attributed to the reduced momentum over the Easter period,” O’Flaherty claims, adding, “The surge of 63pc compared to April 2011 is a positive sign that passive job seekers are now beginning to explore the jobs market.”

Job creation in pharmaceutical, manufacturing and IT sectors

Despite the economic gloom shrouding Ireland, investment in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing and IT sectors is providing employment opportunities, and O’Flaherty cites the significant job creation at Amgen, Mylan and Cisco in recent months.

She also notes that employers need to make offers that will tempt a mobile and flexible workforce: “Positively, professionals are becoming more mobile and flexible in looking for alternative employment, and employers are more conscious of the need to offer attractive and enticing remuneration packages to secure this talent.”

IDA chief executive Barry O'Leary said the Dublin hub will be integral to the company's global expansion plans.

Additional recruiting will be in the areas of inside sales, operations and customer support. 

Total Defense is a leading developer and provider of antivirus and anti-crimeware software for both business and consumer markets. Its product lines cover every device from desktop to mobile with multi-layered solutions for endpoints, networks and groupware systems. 

Positive sentiment towards Ireland

"As I travelled around the US last week talking to companies considering investing in Ireland, I was struck by two things: firstly, the positive sentiment towards Ireland and our performance over the past year; but also the extent to which these job-creating companies are interested in the future of the Euro and our place within it," the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD, said today.

“With the right moves I am convinced that we can continue to attract companies like Total Defense and create the jobs we so badly need," Bruton added.

Total Defense protects more than 40,000 businesses and more than 4m consumers from the growing epidemic of cybercrime and malware. 

Total Defense has been ranked as the sixth largest retailer of consumer security products in the US by the NPD Group in 2011 and its Internet Security Suite won a 2012 Global Excellence Award in March 2012.

“We are very excited about our expansion into the European market and Dublin will be at the very centre of our new business generation and support," said Chris Hickey, president of Total Defense. 

“We are impressed by the quality and depth of the talent pool and the strength of the software industry in Ireland, which coupled with the partnership of IDA Ireland, made the decision to locate our European Operations Hub here the right one for the future of the company."

There will be 397.1m mobile workers by the end of 2012 working from anywhere at any time, the introduction to the infographic published by [x]cube LABS on Visual.ly reports.

And why not work remotely? With faster broadband, the rise and rise of social media and the ability to videoconference via Skype or Google+ Hangouts, many employees figure they would get a lot more work done by working flexibly.

The infographic outlines the types of mobile employees: mobile information workers, mobile task workers, mobile wannabes, and mobile mavericks, all of whom use mobile devices for work in varying degrees.

These mobile devices are being owned by more employees, too, likely helping to drive the consumerisation of IT, where workers are opting to bring and use their own devices on the job. Younger workers tend to prefer Apple and Android devices, whereas older workers opt for devices by RIM, according to the infographic.

And don't even think about taking those devices away for a week - 59pc of employees got emotional at the notion of working without their smartphones for one week, 40pc would feel disoriented and 34pc would feel distraught.

Established by founder and managing director Sean Giblin in 1985, Cylon Group is an international leader in the development of building energy management systems and a pioneer in the provision of energy management services to public and private organisations across a range of sectors, including local government, office, education, healthcare, retail, hospitality, leisure and transport.

A number of the new positions to be created as part of the company's Irish and international expansion will be in areas such as sales, engineering and software development. A number of the positions will be filled through a Cylon graduate recruitment programme.

Cloud-based real-time energy management

Through the new energy management division, the company now also provides clients with cloud-based real-time energy management services, which have been proven to significantly reduce clients' overall energy consumption and carbon footprint and reduce energy costs by up to 25pc.

It has already invested more than €1.5m in the new division and has recently announced a number of new contract wins in Ireland and the United States.

“This is a very exciting time for Cylon and today's launch marks the next major phase in the development of our company," Giblin said.

“Cylon Active Energy is a key component of our strategy to continue growing our business in Ireland and internationally and we believe it will allow us to double our sales to about €15m by 2014.   

“Our building energy control systems are currently used by thousands of companies across the world and have already made us the energy management partner of choice for some major corporations and SMEs. Cylon Active Energy will be very complimentary to this business and will allow us to offer more comprehensive energy management services to these clients," said Giblin.

Currently one of the largest independent manufacturers of building control systems in Europe, Cylon has for more than 25 years been a key innovator in the design, development and manufacturing of highly advanced building control systems, which optimise buildings' energy usage and efficiencies.

With headquarters in Dublin, Cylon Group also has offices in the UK, Europe and China, in addition to a network of representatives across Europe, the US, the Middle East, Australasia and Scandinavia.

Version 1, an IT consulting and managed services provider, will be the first company to use the brand-new social referral system in an effort to fill 90 new jobs.

Zartis will set up a system for Version 1 to upload information on positions available and allocate a bonus to reward employees for successful referrals. Employees can then log in to this system to view the roles and, quickly and easily, they can send an alert to a contact on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook recommending he or she apply for the role. The service can also use keyword matching to automatically make recommendations from LinkedIn.

When the contact receives this message, a single click will bring him or her to Version 1’s website to find out more or even apply for the position there and then – the candidate can even apply straight from his or her phone.

A game-changer in recruitment

Using social media for recruitment is not an entirely new prospect thanks to the popularity of LinkedIn, but this service capitalises on current employees’ connections on these networks. “On average, each employee has about 150 first-degree connections on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. With 300 employees in Version 1, we theoretically have access to 45,000 connections,” says Jarlath Dooley, HR director at Version 1.

The solution will not only grant employers access to a large pool of potential recruits, but, with employees vouching for applicants, there is a better chance of finding the most appropriate candidate. “We see social referral as a game-changer in recruitment,” says Dooley. “Firstly, there are huge cost savings as we do not require a recruitment agency, but, more importantly referrals are undoubtedly better hires. Great people know other great people.”

So far, Version 1 employees have responded positively to the process, with 100 new applications coming through this week.

RTÉ reports that SAP will create 150 jobs in Citywest in Dublin for roles such as sales and services.

The company will also create 100 jobs in Galway for its newly developed Cloud Services and Support Centre.

Many of the positions require people with various skillsets and qualifications in the fields of computer science, engineering, physics, maths, information systems, languages, business and sales.

The expansion, supported by IDA Ireland, will help SAP prepare for technological innovations such as cloud computing, mobile apps and database technology.

“The decision by SAP to create 250 new, high-quality jobs in Dublin and Galway is most welcome news and contributes to Ireland's growing reputation as a global hub for the digital industry," said Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

"SAP is the largest software company in Europe and the third largest software company in the world and its decision to further expand its Irish operations demonstrates the real value of an economically stable business environment and Ireland's position in Europe when it comes to attracting the overseas operations of major technology companies like SAP," he said.

SAP opened its first facility in Ireland in 1997 and now employs 1,200 people in the country.