Specialist

FDI brings high value jobs to IrelandIn recent news, Ireland has ranked the top destination for added value of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) programmes in the IBM Global Location Trends.

This position proves Ireland to be the leading performer in the world for a second year in a row, resulting from the country’s success in attracting research and development (R&D) activities in life sciences and ICT, coupled with high-value investment in financial services.

This FDI value indicator assigns a value to each investment project taking into account sector and business activity type. It assesses the added value and knowledge intensity of the jobs created by the investment project, which is where Ireland is currently exceeding.

Along with the top rank, we also placed 4th for estimated jobs per million inhabitants from FDI.  Signs indicate Ireland is already ahead of target for 2014, having created over 8,000 jobs in the first half of the year, according to IDA Ireland’s recent mid-year statement.

These high global rankings prove Ireland to be leading the charge for:

  1. Ease of attracting international staff
  2. Availability of skilled labour
  3. Flexibility and adaptability of workforce

The IDA placed significant emphasis on enticing high-tech sector companies including Intel, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft and IBM to locate in Ireland. Ireland is now also home to newer, dominant high tech players including Google, Salesforce, Twitter, Facebook and the list goes on! This success is a major factor for bringing high value jobs to Ireland. It is crucial to Ireland’s strengths in key sectors —ICT, life sciences, financial and business services — substantial FDI opportunities are continually being generated. Our predominantly young work force is accomplished, skilful and high achieving. The median population age is 35, the lowest in the EU according to IDA Ireland.

The IDA works to attract global sectors of industry and target companies that have the potential to prosper in Ireland, bringing with them employment and economic growth. Ireland’s emerging information economy has also enabled it to become a leading global destination for internationally traded services such as Insurance, Consulting, Digital media, and especially financial services.

Budget 2015 announcements, such as the Personal Tax Regime are designed to entice the talent necessary to cultivate global businesses in Ireland. These changes seek to make Ireland more competitive and promote it as a place for skilled senior resources to take on employment. It impacts the ability of organisations to attract such skilled talent from overseas and make a significant difference to employment opportunity.

From January 1st 2015, the existing R & D Tax Credit regime will be enhanced as the base-year limitation will be removed. This base year change should prompt some of the more established FDI companies to compete for R & D investment projects in Ireland.

These changes, along with a top ranking position as THE DESTINATION for added value of FDI, make Ireland a prime location for continued inward investment and sustained growth of high value jobs.

Contributed by Amy Cosgrave, Vantage Resources