Job opportunities rise '¨by 19 percent in Derry

The ‘NIJobs.com Jobs Report with Ulster Bank’ involves job data being analysed and interpreted by Ulster Bank’s Chief Economist Richard Ramsey, and gives an insight at a local level about the types of jobs people are looking for and the roles companies are keen to recruit.

The latest report indicates that overall in Northern Ireland, job listings have dipped by seven percent, but Derry is bucking this trend, despite a fall locally in the number of IT sector job opportunities.

Sam McIlveen, general manager of NIJobs.com said: “It’s terrific to see jobs rise across the North West region. I believe the increase can be attributed to a variety of factors. We’ve seen this region successfully attract companies such as Convergys and Firstsource to Derry city. These global players are prolific recruiters, consistently hiring on NIJobs.com.

“Jobs in demand in Derry/Londonderry, in particular, included jobs in nursing, sales and accountancy and finance. 

“It’s also worth acknowledging the work of the local councils, chambers of commerce, enterprise bodies and, of course, Invest NI who are all dedicated to supporting new and existing businesses and attracting new companies.”

The report compiles its data from a detailed analysis of online recruitment trends with clients. Ulster Bank’s Chief Economist Richard Ramsey said: “A number of employment categories that reported a decrease in job vacancies in Northern Ireland actually saw rises in Derry / Londonderry included: Nursing, Healthcare & Medical; Education, Childcare & Training; Sales; and Accountancy and Finance.”

While IT remained the dominant sector accounting for more than one in 10 of all job vacancies in the north, in Derry there a marked decline in IT job vacancies, down 28 percent quarter on quarter, and down 62 percent year on year.