Industry boost after Munster job losses
Premier Group said while most of the new recruitment consultant positions would be in Cork and Dublin, the rest would be distributed in its offices nationwide.
The wholly Irish-owned group also said that while the country’s manufacturing sector has been hit badly in recent weeks, the vastmajority of Irish businesses are still expanding.
Managing director Pat Fitzgerald said his company has placed 40% more people with companies in the first quarter of this year than for the same period last year.
The accounting, financial services and IT sectors are showing most growth, he said, while the recruitment industry will keep growing over the next three years.
“We see continued steady growth at satisfactory levels in Ireland whilst targeting a more rapid expansion process in Britain,” he said.
“We believe that our current annual growth rate of over 40% will be sustained and that our target of reaching a €250 million turnover by the end of 2009, with a parallel increase in our net fees to €100m, is an obtainable goal.”
The jobs announcement was made at the official opening of a new Premier Group office in Dublin.
The vacancies includepositions for experienced and graduate trainee recruitment consultants across each of Premier Group’s operating divisions — Premier Recruitment (accounting and financial services market), la crème (office and administrative market), Brunel (technical and engineering market) and Verkom (information technology market). Recruitment is underway and will be completed this year.
Premier Group has also announced plans to launch Brunel in Britain in 2008 and Verkom in 2009.
Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin has welcomed the news.
“The group and its divisions are impressive in their professionalism and commitment to quality,” he said.
“Based on its investments in people, systems and facilities, Premier Group has created a platform for future success and it expects to double in size over the next three years.
“It is on the basis of this solid record of quality and performance that the company has attracted the business of leading corporations and businesses in Ireland and Britain.”
With major operations in Ireland and Britain, Premier Group is this country’s largest and most successful recruitment company.
Established in 1988, it employs 330 people with 22 offices in Ireland and Britain.
The group had €85m turnover and net fees of €38m in 2006.
The company was recently ranked among the top 50 Irish companies to work for for the third year in a row recently.
It was also named the best company in Ireland in terms of striking a work-life balance among its staff.
