THE north's economy, which has begun the year on the back foot amid record numbers of coronavirus infections and a downgraded outlook for growth, has been given a major shot in the arm with the announcement of 800 new jobs in two separate sectors.
Independent domiciliary care provider Connected Health, which has grown from a staff of 45 to a group employing 1,100 across Ireland and Britain in just six years, is taking on 500 full- and part-time roles across its Northern Ireland operations over the next year, paying London-equivalent wage rates of £11.05 an hour.
And the north's largest financial services employer Citi will add 300 more staff at all levels, from apprentices and graduates to experienced roles, as part of a major expansion which will take its Belfast payroll to around 3,500.
Recruitment for the various posts in both companies is starting immediately.
It comes amid a crippling cost-of-living crisis, with spiralling inflation in food, fuel and other household goods, and with national insurance rates due to rise by 1.25 per cent in April, which will shrink the average worker's disposable income by another £250 a year.
Theresa Morrison, Connected Health’s director of clinical services and training, said the creation of 500 new care worker posts was necessary to meet surging demand for high-quality home care provision in the north.
She added that the Department of Health’s recent introduction of a new funding support package played an important role in empowering the company to offer the increased rate of pay.
Last year Connected Health became an accredited Living Wage Employer, with a minimum hourly wage of £9.90, but it has gone a step further to offer the Real Living Wage rate for London, which £11.05 an hour.
That minimum wage increase at Connected Health is seen as a significant milestone for care workers, where more than 236,000 jobs across Northern Ireland currently pay less than the real living wage.
“The Department’s £23 million support package to help the entire social care sector recruit and retain staff is playing a big part in our move to provide our hard-working teams with a fair wage,” Ms Morrison added.
“We've worked closely with Health Minister Robin Swann, and now we are eager to put this much needed and deserved additional money into our care workers’ pockets.
“As demand for home care continues to increase across Northern Ireland, the social care sector as a whole must continue to increase its efforts to address the current staffing deficit.
“Connected Health is continuing to lead the drive to substantially increase staffing capacity in order to meet unprecedented and ever-growing demand.”
Meanwhile Citi, the only global investment bank operating in Northern Ireland, says it remains committed to continued development in the region, having added 1,000 new people within the last 12 months through organic growth and internal transfers.
It currently employs 3,200 people and supports 21 different capabilities including legal, HR, compliance, audit, markets and tech across its four Belfast locations.
James Bardrick, head of Citi UK, said: “After starting in Belfast 16 years ago with 375 technology staff, we are now Northern Ireland’s largest financial services employer with over 3,200 colleagues.
“We have been able to grow rapidly due to the incredibly deep and broad pool of talent present in Northern Ireland.
“A key feature of life at Citi is giving our people the opportunity to live locally but work globally, supporting our businesses around the world, and we are looking forward to continuing our investment at Citi Belfast and developing our team locally.”
Leigh Meyer, site head of Citi in Belfast, adds: “Every day in Belfast, our global teams interact with employees in 100 countries, processing over 600,000 transactions and supporting next-generation technology solutions for enterprise. They deliver critical services to the bank and its customers to make sure we are a stronger and safer organisation for our clients.”
He added: “Our people are the key to our success, and amid the challenges of the pandemic we have succeeded in growing over the last two years both in headcount and number of functions based at Citi Belfast.
“Our team have demonstrated tremendous determination and innovative skills and taken a pragmatic, common sense approach to help us not only keep going, but continue to grow and are contributing to the ongoing success of Citi globally.”
