IDA Ireland Reports 13,367 New Jobs By Clients' Firms In 2013

IDA Ireland has reported the creation of 13,367 new jobs by client companies during 2013.

When job losses are taken into account, the net increase in employment was 7,071, the highest level of job creation in over a decade.

Total employment at IDA client companies now stands at 161,112 people, the highest level in the history of IDA Ireland. The job performance took place against a particularly challenging European economic environment, but leaves IDA firmly on track to fulfill and exceed targets set under its Horizon 2020 strategy.

Targeting of specific growth sectors and business models, increased competitiveness and an improved international reputation were the main factors that contributed to the strong 2013 results, IDA said.

The number of investments was especially strong in 2013, with 164 projects won for Ireland. Of these, 78 came from companies investing in Ireland for the first time (a rise of 18% on the previous year), with 59 expansions and 27 Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) projects.

Among the leading investments secured during the year were: Deutsche Bank, Twitter, EMC, eBay, Salesforce, Novartis, Vistakon, Facebook, Zurich, Symantec, De Puy, Yahoo, Sanofi and Indeed.com.

First time investments were secured from corporations across the portfolio including from Qualcomm, Airbnb, Tripadvisor, Regeneron, Huawei, FireEye, Grifols, Alexion and Acorn Direct Marketing.

There was also a strong presence of emerging fast growth companies in the investment wins in 2013, including Squarespace, Mongo DB, Culture Translate, AdRoll, Storage Craft, Qualtrics, Zendesk, Quantcast and Etsy. The IDA set a goal in its Horizon 2020 strategy to attract these type of fast growth companies.

There were job gains across all sectors IDA is focused on, but particularly in digital media/content, ICT, international financial services, life sciences and business services.

Commenting on the 2013 performance, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation, Richard Bruton TD said: "Foreign direct investment plays a key part in the Action Plan for Jobs, and in 2013 we set ambitious targets for 6000 net new jobs and 132 investments by multinational companies. Today's results show that 2013 was another record year for multinational companies, with targets exceeded and an increase of over 7000 jobs.

"This is the third year in a row that jobs growth has exceeded previous records, and huge credit is owed to IDA Ireland and Barry O'Leary on repeatedly exceeding targets and delivering these records in the face of increasing international competition.

"Multinational companies have played a major role in the 3% employment growth we have seen across the economy in the past year. Every 10 jobs created in multinational companies lead to approximately 7 jobs being created elsewhere in the economy in supply and service businesses.

"There are now two main challenges – to continue and accelerate the growth in multinational companies here, and to maximise the positive impact of these companies on the rest of the Irish economy. With hard work from my Department and commitment across Government we have protected the IDA in successive budgets.

"The joint IDA/Enterprise Ireland management team is working hard on providing increased opportunities for Irish companies from multinationals and Connect Ireland is providing ways of accessing new companies previously beyond the reach of IDA."

(CD)