The number of employees employed by Enterprise Ireland (EI) backed firms rose by 11,911 last year, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the highest job gain recorded by clients of a state agency in a single year.
207,894 people now work for companies assisted by EI, whose mission is the development and growth of Irish companies in global markets. However, this number is down from the 220,613 recorded last year, because as part of formulating its new three-year strategy, EI updated the group of companies it included in its annual employment survey and found that some of them could no longer be classified as clients, reducing the total number .
In total, 20,342 new jobs were created by EI-backed firms in 2021, but job losses at other EI-supported firms reduced that net figure to nearly 12,000.
Just over two-thirds of new jobs were created outside the capital, with an increase of 9% in the northwest and 7% in the southeast.
Gains were made across all internationally traded manufacturing and services sectors targeted by Enterprise Ireland, with growth particularly in the life sciences where there was a 14% increase in employment.
EI-backed digital technology companies increased their headcount by 10%, and employment in business services increased by 12%.
Enterprise Ireland also provided €61.6 million in funding to 341 companies affected by Covid-19 last year.
1,048 approved projects also received a total of 14.6 million euros under a customs-ready grant aimed at preparing businesses for the impact of Brexit.
EI CEO Leo Clancy, said, “Enterprise Ireland is working with businesses across the country to ensure they can quickly recover from the impact of Covid-19 and continue to adapt to the new trading relationship with the UK. It is very important and welcome to see job growth in every major economic sector and in every region.”
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar welcomed the performance and said, “I am particularly pleased that job growth has occurred in all regions with nearly 70% of new job growth occurring outside Dublin and particularly strong growth in the North West and South East”.
Furthermore, the organization is also launching a new three-year strategy that aims to create 45,000 new jobs over the next three years. It also plans to increase exports by EI clients to €30 billion through the continued growth of Irish export-focused companies in all regions. The plan also aims to make Ireland a world-leading location for business start-ups and expansion and to make Irish companies a global leader in sustainability and climate action.
Clancy concluded, “our primary focus in the coming years will be to help our clients achieve further growth resulting from the significant opportunities that a recovering global economy presents for the benefit of every community in Ireland.”
Source: 7 Seizh
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