More than 550 jobs announced across Ireland this week
Image: Nick Starichenko

More than 550 jobs announced across Ireland this week

16 Feb 2018

The skills are alive with the sound of jobs announcements! This week in Careers, it’s a good time to be on the hunt for a new role.

I really enjoy being able to offer some good news to people. The news, these days, has pretty much become synonymous with ‘tales of misfortune’.

So, being able to report that more than 550 jobs were created across the island of Ireland this week is nice. I like the idea of offering a welcome reprieve to people.

2018 has been relatively quiet for jobs up to now. While Ergo announced 100 new positions in Dublin and Cork last week, until that point, there had been very few big splashes on the employment front.

A notable exception, of course, was the stunning news that Jaguar Land Rover will ‘steer’ Shannon’s economy in the right direction, with 150 jobs announced there in January.

MSD made waves this week when it revealed that it will take on a staggering 350 new employees amid plans to build a new state-of-the-art biologics facility in Swords, Co Dublin.

Software company Autodesk – producers of AutoCAD, which notably has been deployed to design everything from Tesla electric engines to the One World Trade Center – also hit the headlines with the news that it will open a new Dublin-based office, and with it create 200 new roles.

The jobs news wasn’t entirely concentrated in Dublin, however. Belfast-based Flint Studios will expand its digital team by eight before the end of the year.

Diversity and inclusion

Oftentimes, tech conferences tend to engage in similar topics espoused by, shall we say, non-diverse groups. This is limiting to everyone involved, and it’s important that, going forward, the tech community takes practical steps to address gender and ethnic inclusion (it’s something we at Siliconrepublic.com are very passionate about).

On 3 February, Zendesk hosted a workshop as part of the Global Diversity Call for Proposals (CFP) Day, in a bid to help increase the visibility of those from diverse backgrounds at conferences and empower employees to put themselves out there.

We also chatted with Suzanne Farrell, an agile coach with Accenture, about how she has learned to leverage agile methodologies to support many different teams. How did she learn best, you might ask? “Failing at first,” she explained.

For more on any of these stories, follow the links below.

1. Zendesk and the art of public speaking

On 3 February, Zendesk hosted the Dublin Global Diversity CFP Day for those who want to be a tech conference speaker.

2. 350 jobs bonanza for Dublin as MSD plans to build new biotech plant 

New plant will play a pivotal role in manufacture of MSD’s biologics-based medicines.

3. Autodesk to open Irish office and bring 200 jobs to Dublin 

Autodesk, which is best known for its pioneering AutoCAD software, will hire 200 new employees before the end of 2018. 

4. Belfast-based Flint Studios to bring eight new jobs to NI capital 

Digital solutions agency Flint Studios has already begun recruitment for eight new positions at its Belfast office.

5. Agile coach: ‘I learned most of what I know from failing at first’ 

Agile coach Suzanne Farrell explains how she learned to support many different teams using agile methodologies.

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Eva Short
By Eva Short

Eva Short was a journalist at Silicon Republic, specialising in the areas of tech, data privacy, business, cybersecurity, AI, automation and future of work, among others.

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