PA Consulting is enhancing its digital expertise with the creation of hundreds of jobs in Belfast over the next five years.
PA Consulting is a major global innovation and transformation consultancy, with more than 2,600 specialists. Today (4 September), it announced a major five-year investment in Belfast, resulting in 400 new jobs over that timespan.
Anita Chandraker, global head of innovation services and a member of the PA Consulting board, said that Northern Ireland was the ideal place to grow the team. She said: “We thought long and hard about where was the best place for our next phase of expansion, and considered factors such as the talent pool, the current technology sector, salaries, education and universities, and infrastructure.
“Northern Ireland ticked all the boxes. These factors, combined with the offer of support from government, made it the logical choice.”
A top destination
Secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley, welcomed the news. She said: “Today’s announcement by PA Consulting shows that Northern Ireland continues to punch well above its weight in terms of proving itself as a top destination to invest and do business.
“This project will create 400 jobs over the next five years. Once the project is fully established, it will generate over £14.5m in wages annually and be a significant boost to the Northern Ireland economy.”
The company has already recruited a team of almost 40 people, including 25 digital specialists. It works with global clients to help them harness the benefits of new technologies and business models, while dealing with the ever-changing trends within customer expectations.
Skills training on the cards
Alastair Hamilton, CEO of Invest NI, said: “As well as our support to help create the new roles, the department for the economy will also be running a series of Assured Skills academies to provide pre-employment skills training for 155 of the 400 jobs to ensure the new recruits are able to hit the ground running.”
He added that the initial recruitment focus will be on digital engineering, with roles from graduate-level developers through to senior engineering positions becoming available. Specialist areas will include DevOps, software development, data analytics, security and automated intelligence.
Chandraker concluded by explaining the core of what PA Consulting aims to do in Belfast and on a global scale, citing the proliferation of new digital avenues businesses must now keep in mind. She noted: “Digital assets now do more to drive revenues, margins and market capitalisation than physical assets … the use of digital technologies – such as the internet of things, cloud and blockchain – continues to grow.”
