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Which industries in Ireland were recruiting heavily in November?

30 Nov 2018

November brought with it some surprising announcements and a few industries in particular went on a hiring spree.

As the year’s end draws closer and 2019 approaches with haste, it can be useful to reflect on trends from 2018 to try and determine what is yet to come.

In general, November was an extremely good month for sci-tech jobseekers. Hundreds of new roles were announced across a variety of industries, with a few industries in particular standing out as ones that seemed to be truly flourishing.

Pharma and life sciences

It was a great month for anyone looking to start their career in life sciences. Genomics Medicine Ireland created a staggering 600 new roles in Dublin spanning research, informatics, data science, software and medicine.

The roles were created as part of a $400m investment in the firm involving the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) as well as investors such as WuXi NetCode, Arch Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Temasek, Yunfeng Capital and Sequoia Capital.

Multinational eye health company Bausch Health announced 100 jobs as it expands its manufacturing capacity at its Waterford site.

Finally, pharma player ILC Dover confirmed plans to expand its production in Ireland by opening a new hub in Blarney, Co Cork, hiring 70 people in the process.

With a total of 770 jobs reported on in the past month, the pharma and life sciences industries Ireland are looking very healthy.

Fintech and financial services

It was also a good month for the world of finance all across the island of Ireland. First, Galway fintech start-up Pip IT Global drummed up €1m of funding and, as a result, will create 25 jobs. Eight of the roles are already in place and the company aims to recruit a further 17 over the next 12 to 18 months.

One of the biggest reported announcements of the month came from financial services heavyweight Grant Thornton, which revealed 400 new roles over the next two years. The positions will primarily be based in Dublin, though some will also be dotted around offices in Belfast, Cork, Galway, Kildare, Limerick and Longford.

Then, Dublin risk management firm Quaternion announced 20 positions will be created over the next two years. The company recently formed a strategic partnership with State Street subsidiary AcadiaSoft to develop products to simplify compliance with new global initial margin regulators.

Though not quite beating pharma and life sciences, the success this month enjoyed by the world of finance in Ireland isn’t to be sniffed at.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence firm Genesys announced that it is set to create 200 highly skilled technology roles in Galway over the next three years. This new office in the west could very well become one of Ireland’s largest artificial intelligence development centres. The work in Galway will focus on advancing the use of AI and machine learning to improve customer experiences.

The Silicon Valley company recently acquired Irishman Barry O’Sullivan’s AI business Altocloud for an undisclosed sum.

These two developments are both huge investments by the tech firm in Ireland. It reinforces the firm’s commitment to Ireland and represents a serious boon to the forecast for the AI industry in Ireland.

For more on any of these announcements, check out the links above.

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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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