Cork is set to become the fastest growing city in Ireland over the next 20 years, bringing boundless new opportunities to the Cork community, and in particular the businesses and professionals around us.
The recent publication of ‘Our City, Our Future – Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028’ is a key step in creating this ‘new Cork’ and in achieving a sustainable future for the city.
But what’s happening on the ground, and what are we seeing with those businesses and professionals we work with on a daily basis?
We caught up with Jonathan Olden, Managing Partner with Barden Cork, who shares some of his thoughts on the Cork market right now…
“We have all heard the soundbites surrounding Global growth prospects. However, I believe in Cork we must look at the opportunities in front of us and what we can control. What we are seeing on the ground is a myriad of start-ups doing well and hiring, having gone through the first two to three years of proving the concept and securing funding .”
“Larger multinational businesses seem to be migrating functions and creating a lot more roles in Cork. Some of this hiring is driven by new business offerings being run out of Ireland for the first time. In some instances, it is a result of a lack of quality talent in other jurisdictions where the outsourcing model has not been as successful as first thought for the higher value add positions. A more recent trend over the last 12 months has seen business leaders in Cork having very good success bringing US roles to Cork where there has been a combination of rising salaries stateside and the concept of working remotely has proved to be a more workable solution.”
“Accounting, fund services, tech, manufacturing, pharma, retail, legal and IT professionals continue to be in strong demand. Investment and expansion news is now a daily feature with the likes of…
- Proposed transport elements in Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS), specifically Bus Connects.
- DHL’s new €11m Express Hub investment in Blarney Business Park.
- Stryker’s continued investment in Carrigtwohill.
- Irish Distillers €250m investment plan for new distillery in Midleton.
- NetApp creating 300 jobs at Cork’s South Docks.
- Forescout opening its European Operations Centre in Cork City…
to name a few. These are all positive and progressive signs for the Cork market.” Let’s continue doing the right things.
Jonathan Olden is Managing Partner of Barden Cork. Reach out to Jonathan for further insights on the Cork market and to see how he, and his team, can help you build and retain truly world class teams.
