IDA secures 12,000 foreign multinational jobs in Ireland so far this year

Reuters

The State has secured 139 investments from foreign multinationals with the potential to create 12,000 jobs so far this year, according to IDA Ireland.

The total is down from the record 18,039 jobs added in the same period last year, the inward investment agency said on Wednesday.

IDA Ireland said the number of new jobs and investments was in line with expectations.

The outturn represented a return to pre-pandemic levels, when new jobs averaged around 12,000 in the first six months of each of 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The agency's chief executive said last week that he expected the number of people employed by foreign-owned firms to increase on a net basis this year despite the tougher global economic environment and tech sector job cuts.

"If we continue on this current trajectory, we would be confident that we will have a net positive position at year-end," Michael Lohan told an Irish Times podcast, adding the outlook for future investments was also very strong even with the more challenging economic conditions and ongoing tech sector correction.

While big tech firms including Meta and Twitter have made substantial cuts in their Irish operations, employment in the information and communication technologies sector grew by 2.7 per cent from January to March, data showed last month.

Lohan said he believed most of the cuts were over, with the possibility that there may be some more.

He also said that in the broader technology sector, more industrial based firms were growing strongly, citing Analog Devices' €600 million investment last month in a new Irish manufacturing plant that is set to create 600 jobs.

A number of pharmaceutical and life science multinationals, including Boston Scientific, Dexcom and Eli Lily, have also made large job announcements this year.

Lohan added that while the state agency had not lost out on any new investments solely due to a years-long undersupply of housing, the ongoing capacity issue has "certainly dampened growth" among multinationals already based here.