Professional services company Accenture said it would create 500 roles in Ireland over the next three years to support its work in the life sciences sector and expand its innovation capability.
The company, which currently employs more than 5,000 people here, said it would recruit for roles in technology, cloud, security, strategy, creative and design.
Most of the new roles will be based in Munster, with a new regional hub to support the growth of Accenture's existing capability at Enterprise System Partners (ESP). Accenture acquired Cork-based ESP, a consulting and manufacturing services provider for the life sciences industry, in 2019.
Accenture is also adding to its workforce in Dublin, recruiting people with quantum chemistry, quantum engineering, and quantum information science skills for its Accenture Labs team, and people with skills in visual and interactive, along with product designers, entrepreneurs and technical architects for its research and development and innovation centre, the Dock.
Alastair Blair, managing director of Accenture in Ireland, said the expansion was a commitment to Ireland.
“Accenture is committed to helping our clients apply the very latest digital technologies and drive innovation, further strengthening the position of Ireland as a leader in this area and delivering ground-breaking change,” he said. “Over the last 50 years, we have seen tremendous change and growth, and these new roles are a great indicator of the direction of change in Ireland. We are committed to continuing to invest in our people who deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day. We are also committed to building Ireland’s talent base to meet the demands of the increasingly important life sciences industry.”
Digitisation
The company said the new jobs would enable collaboration with teams at Accenture’s laboratory facility in Dublin, bringing together the biopharma manufacturing and laboratory expertise of ESP and Accenture Scientific Informatics Services, and supporting the company’s focus on the digitisation of global supply chains in the life sciences industry.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomed the announcement. “This investment to create 500 jobs over the next three years will increase the skills and manufacturing capacity in Ireland’s life sciences industry – and provide an important boost to the economy,” he said. “Accenture continues to make significant investments and is committed to creating consistently high-value jobs, particularly in Munster. This country has the resilience, talent and agility to build on our reputation as an attractive location for innovative, digitally enabled manufacturing.”
IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan said the new jobs demonstrated the confidence Accenture has in the workforce available in the Munster region. "The need for companies to innovate and keep pace with technology change, enhancing their digital and competitive capability, is all-important, and Accenture's support of the life sciences sector in this regard is timely and welcome."
