Openreach to Create 100 New Apprentice Roles

Pictured are First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill with Mairead Meyer, director of Openreach Northern Ireland.

Openreach has unveiled plans to recruit 100 new apprentices in 2021/22 as part of an overall investment of over £100m.

The new recruits will play a role in Openreach’s ultrafast Full Fibre broadband build as well as working to manage and maintain the Openreach network. Apprentices will all receive 18 months’ training and an NVQ before graduating as fully qualified engineers. To find out how to apply for an apprentice role visit www.openreach.co.uk/ni

NIJOBS.COM REPORT REVEALS OPTIMISM FOR LOCAL JOB MARKET

Businesses in Northern Ireland are planning for post-pandemic recovery with talent hiring accelerating according to the latest NIJobs.com Job Report with Ulster Bank.

The quarterly data and job listings of the e-recruitment platform are viewed as a leading indicator of labour market performance, giving insight into recruitment trends, economic environment and the types of roles jobseekers are searching for online.

Q1 2021 noted a strong quarter-onquarter (QoQ) growth rate of 40%, with analysis revealing that listings have more than trebled since Q2 2020’s ‘lockdown low’. Overall, jobs are up 24% year-on-year (YoY) with top performing sectors including nursing, healthcare, security trades and general services and general management. However, some sectors continue to be impacted considerably by lockdown restrictions such as hospitality -72% YoY, retail -6% YoY and social & not for profit -33% YoY.

Looking at the year-on-year increases, IT and nursing, healthcare and medical accounted for almost all the net gain in job listings. These two sectors have benefitted from the health emergency and the hastened move towards working from home and shopping online.

NIJobs.com data can also reveal that IT tops the list of the most in demand roles with employers. Software engineer, software developer, Magento developer and Java developers all dominate the top ten list.

Northern Ireland continues to be an attractive place for IT/tech companies to invest, even during the pandemic. With a wide range of roles available, a high calibre of local talent and Belfast set to be one of the first six UK cities in the 5G rollout, demand and growth are likely to continue.

ESO Solutions, Kofax, Slice, WhiteHat Security, Rapid 7, FinTrU and in the finance sector Citi, Danske Bank, PwC and Allstate all regularly recruit for skilled IT professionals.

Sam McIlveen, general manager at NIJobs. com, commented: “Our Q1 data is encouraging and demonstrates that a range of sectors are investing in the workforce. As lockdown restrictions ease further, we will see more confidence in consumer habits, spending and business growth across some areas too which should all create positive outcomes for the jobs market.

“We have a Talentbank resource on our website that allows clients to search for suitable candidates and it’s a strong reflection of in-demand professionals and skills across sectors.

“The pandemic has forced many businesses and employees to think about long-term investment and career plans. As we look ahead, I believe that companies will be attracted to invest in these skilled roles and in Northern Ireland as it offers a highly skilled workforce, value for money and a better quality of life for employees compared to many other European cities.”

NIJobs.com Top 10 ‘in-demand’ roles for Q1 2021

- Software Engineer - Software Developer - Accountant - Quantity Surveyor - Magento Developer - Administrator - Java Developer - Assistant Accountant - Developer - Accounts Assistant - Management Accountant