Outsource Group To Create 155 Jobs

An established outsourcing firm is to create 155 "high value" jobs over the next three years, according to the Minister for Enterprise.

Outsource Services Group (OSG) said Government group Enterprise Ireland will support the new jobs, but did not reveal if there was a monetary contribution from the Government agency.

The news comes after the Minister for Enterprise launched a €17 million fund for "innovative" firms to create high-quality jobs.

According to the firm's website today, the jobs are being made possible by support from Enterprise Ireland and the company's own investment of €6 million towards further international expansion in the Insurance and Financial Services Outsourcing market.

The investment will go towards R&D Innovation, professional training, marketing and product diversification. It will also support OSG's Business Transformation Programme based on 'lean principles' in the drive to make the company more efficient for our clients.

Malcolm Hughes CEO & Chairman of OSG said "We ultimately want to double our revenue form €20 million to €40 million by the end of 2013 and we are committed to reaching that goal."

Minister O'Keeffe described the move as a "significant investment in productivity and efficiency that secures jobs and growth for the firm".

Frank Ryan CEO of Enterprise Ireland described OSG is an "inspiring business success story" and said it was one of the first Irish companies to apply "lean principles" to an information intensive business.

However, despite the apparent optimism of the Government and OSG, Ireland remains gripped by an unemployment "crisis", with 299,000 people remaining unemployed, and 155 new jobs over the next three years unlikely to make much of a dent.

Last week, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association expressed concern over the dramatic increase in long term unemployment reported in last weeks Government employment figures, and accused the Government of working "around the edge of the problem". The Association called on the jobs issue to be made a priority for any future administration.

"The disastrous trend in the long-term unemployed rate, which has more than doubled from 3.2% in the third quarter of 2009 to the current 6.5% aptly confirms the fact that this government doesn’t have and never had an employment strategy. If they think that the ‘trivial and meaningless’ activation schemes announced in the Budget will solve the crisis, they are sadly mistaken."

(DW)