A GLOBAL recruitment agency believes the north's economy is showing considerable resilience in the face of political uncertainty, citing growing employment opportunities in a number of sectors.
Cpl Solutions International, which operates a Belfast office, has highlighted increased employment opportunities within tech, finance, manufacturing, hospitality and the knowledge economy, but stressed the need for greater investment.
Áine Brolly, CEO of Cpl in Northern Ireland, and former senior vice president of Invest NI in San Francisco, believes the recent Belfast, Derry and Strabane City deals are instrumental in supporting upskilling, training and development, which will support investment in the north.
"There is no doubt we are operating in a challenging economic environment, however, continued Foreign Direct Investment from recent businesses such as Firstsource and Seagate show that Northern Ireland remains an attractive region to invest in.
"At CPL we are seeing increased opportunities across key sectors including tech and manufacturing, with the latter having grown at its fastest rate since 1998," she said.
"Research shows that if we achieve current aspirations for the knowledge economy, there would be circa 80,000 jobs and £3.2 billion GVA added to our economy. This will require an additional 2,500 skilled people coming into Northern Ireland and will only be possible if we focus our efforts and our collective responsibility to take action now.
‘However, with the uncertainty and changing social dynamic following Brexit, as well as the fall in sterling, businesses are struggling to recruit the number of EU nationals needed to support business development. We have to look at how we can mitigate in these areas, with city deals a key mechanism for ensuring future economic prosperity."
"City deals in Derry and Belfast can help to ensure the local economy continues to provide high quality jobs and wages across various sectors by ensuring that organisations instrumental in providing services relating to training and development and upskilling are provided with the resources that will support and develop the employment market," Ms Brolly added.
Cpl is Ireland’s largest recruitment agency. The group comprises 22 brands and has 40 offices located across Ireland, Europe and the UK.
Om the island of Ireland CPL has bases in Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway.
