2,308 people now employed by Enterprise Ireland client companies in Sligo

ENTERPRISE Ireland, the government agency responsible for developing Irish business globally, has unveiled its End of Year Statement for 2023. It shows that 15,530 new jobs were created last year, with 68% of these being outside the Dublin region. A 3% growth in Sligo translated as a further 72 new jobs, making a total of 2,308 people now employed in Sligo by Enterprise Ireland client companies.

Commenting on the results, Meabh Conaghan, Enterprise Ireland’s Regional Director for the West and Northwest region said: “Irish export-focused companies are continuing to create quality employment across Ireland, despite a challenging business environment. Employment in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland is now at its highest ever level at over 225,000 people, with over two thirds of the new jobs outside the Dublin region. This is a testament to the hard work of our client companies who are hungry to achieve greater scale and expand their global footprint.”

“At Enterprise Ireland we are determined to support both the start-up sector and established companies to increase sales and exports in global markets which results in increased employment. Business sentiment among our client companies remains very high and they are continuing to innovate to ensure they are competitive in global markets that remain turbulent. Enterprise Ireland is here to support those companies on that journey.”

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD and Enterprise Ireland made the announcement at an event in leading life sciences company APC and VLE’s headquarters in Cherrywood in Dublin on 9th January. Taking into account job losses last year, the jobs growth translates into a positive net jobs result of 5,011 in a very challenging year for businesses. Each of Enterprise Ireland’s three main sectoral divisions recorded jobs growth with Food and Sustainability now employing 66,047 people (+3%), Industrial and Life Sciences employing 93,652 (+2%) and Technology & Services employing 65,796 people (+2%).

Strong employment growth was reported in specific sub sectors such as Climate, Sustainability & Agritech (7%); Dairy, Drinks and Food FDI (5%); Life Sciences (4%), and High Tech Housing and Construction (3%). Digital Technology and Fintech sectors continued to grow at a moderate 2% despite technology industry headwinds, with international education and edtech reporting 5% employment growth.