Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Irish employees of Bear Stearns are believed to be expecting job loss news in Dublin. This follows the sale of the firm to JP Morgan Chase at a greatly reduced price. Rumour has it that the company may announce redundancies this week. Staff were told that they would be provided with information after the Easter Break. It is believed that JP is reviewing global business.
Bear Stearns employees about 150 staff in Dublin across Bear Stearns Bank and Bear Stearns Dublin Development Centre.
This is certainly not good news for the Banking & Finance sector in Ireland ot the Job market in general. This sector is viewed as a key pillar of the jobs market. This is further evidence that the troble in US is rippling to Ireland.
It was reported yesterday that 34,000 banking jobs have been terminated on Wall Street in the last 9 months.
Tags: Banking, Banking & Finance, Bear Stearns, Bear Stearns Bank, Development Centre, Dublin, Financial Sector, Ireland, Irish Jobs, Jobs, JP Morgan Chase
Posted in HR, Job loss, Jobs, News, Redundancy | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 21st, 2008
With many Multinationals heading for the Irish exit door and redundancy announcements filling the newspapers one would be entitled to feel a bit pessimistic. You have two choices – feel sorry for yourself or you can take control of your own destiny and create your own dreams. This can be by landing a dream job or going it alone.
I have worked with many employees who have suffered redundancy and while a good percentage of them are negative there are many who respond positively to the event. One such response is to go it alone.
This option is not the right option for everybody BUT for those of you who are thinking of taking the leap and starting your own business here are some tips.
- Take all the advice you can get. There are many sources out there and much of it is FREE. Financial Institutions & Banks, friends and family. Often overlooked is the competition.
- Have a plan – great companies are very rarely built on great ideas. They are a combination of planning and people. A strong business plan will provide valuable direction and help you secure financing.
- Avail of free funding and financial support – for example the County Enterprise Board offer a variety of support.
- Training – all though not essential a “start your own business” course will give you some good advice. There are various other relevant courses for entrepreneurs.
- Financing – You can spend your own money BUT I prefer to borrow. Even with the turmoil in the Irish market the banks are relatively supportive.
Success – whatever direction you take.
Tags: Banks, County Enterprise Boards, Enterprise Ireland, Entrepreneurs, Funding, Irish Enterprise, Start Your Own Business, Starting A Business In Ireland, Training
Posted in Entrepreneurs, Jobs, News, Redundancy, Work-life Balance | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
There have been quite a few new kids on the block in Ireland over the last decade and many of these have taken awards at the SFA awards.
This year Aran Candy took the top award at the SFA National Small Business Award 2008. Aran Candy is a Dublin based gourmet jelly beans producer and a good one at that (Tested the products!!). The company is aka The Jelly Bean Factory and it has manufacturing premises in Blanchardstown.
Aran Candy received a 15k cash prize and a lifetime membership of the SFA. I certainly know which of the prizes appeals more to me – 15k to spend on Jelly Beans.
Aran Candy is a great success story founded by a father and son. They are now one of the largest producers globally with 10 key customers in Ireland and 120 further customers globally.
The full list of winners in SFA Awards 2008:
INNOVATOR: (up to 50 employees): Easy Fix Rubber Products
MANUFACTURING: Ecocem Ireland
FOOD & DRINK: Aran Candy
SERVICES: Home Instead Senior Care
OUTSTANDING SMALL BUSINESS (up to five employees): Atomic Sports
BEST IN HR DEVELOPMENT AWARD (up to 50 employees): CCP Recruitment
Tags: Aran Candy, Atomic Sport, CCP Recruitment, Drink, Easy Fix Rubber Products, Ecocem Ireland, Food, Home Instead Senior Care, HR, Manufacturing, Services, SFA, SME
Posted in HR, Jobs, News | No Comments »
Monday, March 17th, 2008
The internet and technology has changed many areas of life including recruitment. Initially it was the introduction of online jobboards but now it is Bebo, Blogs and Second Life.
Many companies are now considering Second Life as a platform to attract, meet, provide information and provide open days to potential employees. Yes virtual questions and answers!! Sounds mad BUT if you don’t explore this option you could be missing out on a wealth of talent. Many progressive companies have started – have a look for your self. There are company offices and even recruitment agencies. I hope they are better than the agencies in the real world.
I find it hard to get many clients to use psychometric testing when recruiting so I don’t know how I could get them to log into Second Life.
Tags: Bebo, Blogs, Ireland, Jobboards, Psychometric Testing, Recruitment Agencies, Second Life
Posted in HR, Jobs, News | No Comments »
Monday, March 10th, 2008
More bad news for gloom for the construction industry BUT there was positive jobs news in Cork. Depuy Ireland announced that it is to set up an innovation centre in Ringaskiddy, Cork. DePuy develops and manufactures orthopedic products. This announcement will bring 20 new jobs to the region. Employees will require PhD, Msc, Degrees in Materials, Quality and Biomedical Engineering.
Depuy set up operations in Cork in 1997. They introduced the Supply Chain function to Cork in 2002. They currently employ 600 staff in Ireland.
Tags: Biomedical, Construction, Cork Jobs, DePuy, DePuy Ireland, Engineering, Irish Jobs, Manufacturing, Orthopedic, Ringaskiddy, Supply Chain
Posted in HR, Jobs, News | No Comments »
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
If you missed the FAS 2008 Opportunities Jobs Fair last weekend don’t panic. I have located the companies who where exhibiting at the show and listed them below. If you are on the job market I would certainly be approaching these companies as they all have open vacancies.
Tags: Abbott Ireland, Accenture, Allianz, Argos, Bank of New York Mellon, BWG Foods Ltd, Canon, Casey Recruitment, Chevron Training, Citco Group, Citizens' Information Board (Comhaire), County & City Enterprise Boards, CPM Ireland, Defence Forces, DPS Engineering, Dublin Bus, Dunnes Stores, Eplan software and service, Equality Authority, Failte Ireland, FAS One Step Up, FAS Science Challenge, FAS Supported Employment, Gaisce - The President's Award, Garda Síochána & Garda Reserve, gsmExchange.com, GXP Systems, Handwerkskammer Zu Koeln, Health Service Executive, i-to-i Volunteer & Teach Abroad, IDA Ireland, International Academy of Travel, InterTrade Ireland, IPASS, IPASS (Irish Payroll Association), Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Irish congress of Trade Unions Youth Committee, Irish Jobs, IT Alliance Group, LastMinuteMinders.com, LIDL Ireland GmbH, Lifeline Ambulance Service, Loadzajobs.ie, Local Employment Service Network, LookWest.ie, MBNA Bank of America, McCurrach, McDonalds Restaurants of Ireland Limited, National Employment Rights Authority, One-Step-Up, Pilot Training College of Ireland, Pramerica Software Development and Call Centre, Public Appointments, Quinn Insurance, Ryanair, SAP Ireland, Science Challenge, Shannon Aerospace, Shannon Development, SR Technics Ireland Limited, Stryker Instruments, Supermacs, Superquinn, Teagasc, Tesco Ireland, The Pensions Board, Vocations Ireland, VT Life Skills, YAP Ireland
Posted in Graduate Recruitment, Jobs, News, Recruitment | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 7th, 2008
Enterprise Ireland backed 79 start-ups last year and expects these to generate 756m in sales. One expert (probably the Minister of ETE) commented “I do think that 2008 is a good year to launch a Business venture”
Would you launch a new business venture in the Construction Sector?
Tags: Enterprise Ireland, Entrepreneur, Ireland, Irish Jobs, MNC, SME, US, Working in Ireland
Posted in Jobs, News, Recruitment | No Comments »
Friday, March 7th, 2008
None of the government transport 21 projects will come in on time. Hmmmmm… I guess this reflects the daily commuting experience.
Key projects delayed include
a) City center Luas link up – Due 2008 – now no completion date
b) Metro from city to airport – Due 2012 – now 2013
c) Luas extension Connolly to Dockland – Due 2008 – now 2009
d) Luas extension Tallaght to Citywest – Due 2008 – now 2010
Looks like commuter hell in Ireland will continue for the foreseeable future.
Tags: Citywest, Commuting, Connolly, Dockland, Dublin, Dublin City Center, Government, Luas, Project, Tallaght, Transport
Posted in HR, News, Staff Retention, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
Friday, March 7th, 2008
I read with interest how an air traffic controller who allowed two passenger planes come within 17 seconds of disaster is back in his job. The incident report confirmed that the event was the result of a human error. You will be glad to learn that this individual underwent extra training before being placed back in the line of fire.
I guess this highlights that training can work (we hope) and everyone deserves a second chance.
Tags: Air Traffic Controller, Airport, Ireland, Shannon Airport, Training & Development
Posted in News, Training & Development | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Is this a change of Business in Ireland as we know it.
I could never see the attraction of firms locating in central Dublin. High costs, congestion, expensive sarnies and coffee. Do they pay for expensive offices in city center Dublin to get the staff??
Hmmmmmmm
I though most employees were living in Navan, Cavan, Kinnegad, Drogheda, Dundalk, Naas, Newbridge, Wicklow, Gorey, Bray ….. basically everywhere except Dublin.
Looks like there is even more incentive for firms to locate outside the capital as survey today announced that most commuters from Wicklow would be willing to take a paycut to work closer to home. This means that all commuters would be willing to do so.
Commuters spend on average 2hrs per day on trains planes and automobiles. I guess the penny has actually dropped that the extra 10k for working in Dublin is not worth 10-15 hours a week.
I am going to start a bring the jobs to the people campaign encouraging employers to relocated to the leafy suburbs cutting stress, traffic congestion, costs and improving life for us all.
Tags: Arklow, Bray, Careers, Carlow, Cavan, Commuters, Congestion, Drogheda, Dundalk, Gorey, HR, Jobs, Kildare, Kilkenny, Kinnegad, M50, Meath, Naas, Navan, Newbridge, Newry, Offaly, Travel, Westmeath, Wicklow, WLB, Worklife Balance
Posted in HR, Jobs, News, Work-life Balance | No Comments »
