Major new training centre for Tullamore

A major new training facility catering specifically to fill gaps in the local employment market is to open in Tullamore next year.

The Laois Offaly Education Training Board-run facililty at the Axis Business Park in Tullamore will provide training for apprentice electricians and biopharma workers, two sectors where labour shortages have been identified.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent this week, Tony Dalton the Director for Further Education and Training at Laois Offaly ETB, revealed that when the facility, which is the first of its kind in Offaly, is fully operational it will provide training for 150 people each year.

In additon to providing training to people looking to become electricians and those who want to enter the biopharma sector, the facility will also provide upskilling opportunities for those already working in local biopharma firms.

“It's very specific to the needs of the employment market in Laois and Offaly. We are working with employers to identify the skills needed in these two sectors to provide a skilled workforce.

“We would hope that when it is up and running we will have a throughput figure of 150 a year. All of the training will be employment focused and its all about trying to place people in employment,” Mr Dalton added.

According to the planning application that was given the green light by Offaly County Council in late September, the new facility will include a training area for apprentice electricians, a clean room with classrooms, a laboratory with a classroom and associated offices, canteen and a reception.

The Tullamore facility is expected to open in the second half of next year. The shortage of workers locally in sectors such as construction and IT has led to a Tullamore-based recruitment firm offering free flights home for people living in Australia.

According to Tullamore based recruitment specialist Erin Whittle from FRS Recruitment, the healthcare, construction and IT sectors are being worst hit by the labour shortage.

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In a bid to attract Irish expats home to fill the labour gap, Ms Whittle and her colleagues from FRS Recruitment are hosting a recruitment roadshow, Ireland is Hiring, in Australian cities this week.

In addition to providing a range a range of information about moving back to Ireland, insights on the current Irish jobs market back including salary details, as well as practical advice on how to handle the logistics and paperwork involved, expats will also be offered the added incentive of free flights back home if they secure a job through FRS Recruitment, which has offices in Tullamore and nine other locations around the country including Roscrea.“

There’s been strong interest in the event with hundreds of people registering since we announced this roadshow the other day. We will be highlighting roles fromlocations across Ireland, including a number of Tullamore and Offaly based positions.

“Locally there are a number of positions in the healthcare, construction and IT sectors that we’re hoping to fill with the people we will be speaking to in Australia.”

One healthcare firm that is struggling to find workers to meet market demands is the midlands branch of Home Instead, which provides home care and home help to seniors across the midlands.

The firm recently signed a contract with the HSE for home help services and has recruited 170 new staff since the beginning of 2017.Managing director Jonathan Acton says that within the next six months his firm wants to add a further 100 new people to its current workforce of 255, however, with the country heading towards full employment, they are finding it hard to recruit staff in the numbers they need.

FRS Recruitment's general manager Colin Donnery says that the aim of the employment roadshow in Australia is to try and entice Irish nationals back home to fill the labour shortages in healthcare and other sectors.“There is a particularly strong demand for personnel in the construction, IT, healthcare, medical device/ pharmaceutical and financial sectors at the moment. There are plenty of Irish people working in these sectors in Australia who would be of great interest to employers back in this country. We know just how badly their skillsets are needed in this market and how these great positions could provide a fantastic opportunity for returning home,” Mr Donnery said.