US Firm Workrise To Create More Than 150 New Jobs In NI

More than 150 new jobs are to be created at a new technology engineering centre to be developed by leading US workforce management company Workrise.

Founded in Austin, Texas, Workrise provides a full-service workforce solution, matching skilled labour contractors to companies that require staff for time bound projects.

Announcing the 153 new jobs, Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said: "It is a pleasure to welcome this leading technology company from Austin, Texas to Northern Ireland, an investment which will make an important contribution to our economy.

"We want post-COVID Northern Ireland to be stronger than before. We want our people to develop the skills of the future and our businesses to be resilient, innovative, sustainable and competitive.

"One of the ways we can achieve this is to attract new investment and create high-value employment. I am therefore very pleased to announce this latest new investment into Northern Ireland.

"Workrise's decision to establish its new engineering centre here will create 153 high-quality jobs, all paying salaries above the average annual wage for the private sector. With a hybrid working approach in place, people from all over Northern Ireland will be able to apply, and there are exciting opportunities on offer for graduates. Overall the project will contribute £6.8m in wages to the local economy once all the roles are in place with benefits of the investment being felt across Northern Ireland."

Invest Northern Ireland has offered the company £994,500 of support towards the creation of the new technology jobs.

Workrise CEO, and co-founder, Xuan Yong said: "To achieve our growth plans we are expanding and centralising our software engineering function. We selected Northern Ireland as the location for this new centre based on the high-quality software engineers with industry skills, along with a strong pipeline of graduates from your excellent universities. This, along with the practical and financial support from Invest NI, made Northern Ireland a very attractive location.

"We started out in 2014 as a platform to match skilled laborers with companies in the oil and gas industry. Over the last couple of years, we've broadened our reach to companies and trade workers in the solar, wind, commercial construction and defense industries. We now plan to continue our expansion into new markets over the coming years.

"By automating the process of matching workers to companies, we bring technology-backed efficiencies across recruiting, logistics, operations and payments which ultimately reduce the operational costs for the business."

Kevin Holland, CEO, Invest NI, said: "Northern Ireland has a well-developed and growing ICT sector. We collaborate with partners across Northern Ireland to continue developing the talent that businesses like Workrise look for. New investors with novel technology ideas and solutions offer excellent potential for knowledge transfer, career progression and sector development – enhancing Northern Ireland's world-class reputation in this field.

"Workrise plans to create the 153 jobs over the next four years, with an initial focus on establishing the engineering team. It is currently recruiting software engineering roles including Backend, Frontend and DevOps with circa 30 staff in place so far, working remotely across Northern Ireland. Later recruitment will turn to Product Management and Programme Management roles with ultimately plans in place to establish a central office in Belfast."