Four people standing on a balcony on the rooftop of a building with a city and buildings and a skyline visible behind them.
Mel Chittock, Invest NI; Judith Savage and Rob Heron, EY; Mike Brennan, Department for the Economy. Image: Invest NI

EY to hire 1,000 in Northern Ireland over the next five years

13 Sep 2023

EY is running a skills academy that prospective hires can take advantage of to boost their skills before interviewing for a variety of roles.

Multinational professional services firm EY is going on a major hiring spree in Northern Ireland, supported by Invest NI. They announced today (13 September) that they are looking for a mix of experienced staffers as well as graduates and school leavers.

Positions will be across areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics, risk and cloud computing. There will also be non-technical roles in areas like tax, audit and consulting. EY is giving itself five years to fill the 1,000 positions. It will have a headcount of around 1,900 in the region by the time all the roles are filled. Its current headcount for the entire island is 4,850.

EY made the hiring announcement at the Northern Ireland Investment Summit in Belfast. Rob Heron, EY Northern Ireland managing partner, appealed to potential interested candidates by drawing attention to EY’s new upskilling academy, pointing out that the company runs skills schemes for staff.

“Whether you are a college graduate, someone looking to advance or change your career, or you are ready to re-enter the workforce following a career break, EY’s Assured Skills Academy Programme will offer you an opportunity to acquire new skills and to join a world-class team here in EY Northern Ireland.”

He also pointed to opportunities for experienced hires and career progression. “Our firm has been experiencing increased demand across all our business areas in recent years as clients turn to us in growing numbers to help them with their most complex and strategic problems. That is why we are so focused on ensuring that we continue to have the right access to great talent in the region across a diverse range of skill sets and specialisms.”

EY’s Assured Skills Academy Programme is funded by Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy. It is open to college graduates, those returning to the workplace and anyone looking to advance their careers in the consultancy sector.

The first EY academy will start on 25 September, with a focus on data and analytics. It will also offer Microsoft qualifications. The eight-week academy will be delivered by the Belfast Metropolitan College. On successful completion of the academy, participants will have the opportunity to interview for consultant roles in EY which will be available from December 2023.

Today’s announcement comes less than a year after EY said it was hiring 900 new staff across the island of Ireland to meet growing demand for its services.

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Blathnaid O’Dea
By Blathnaid O’Dea

Blathnaid O’Dea worked as a Careers reporter until 2024, coming from a background in the Humanities. She likes people, pranking, pictures of puffins – and apparently alliteration.

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