EY targets Irish emigrants to ‘come home’ to work

EY, an accountancy and professional services firm, is targeting Irish emigrants to “come home” to work for the firm. It has announced 80 new consultancy jobs over the next six months, as well as a further 160 graduate roles for 2014.

The company said the new jobs would be spread across its Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Belfast offices, and were as a result of “client wins”. EY said some of the roles would be in its business and transaction advisory divisions.

It said it would also hire accountants and business executives for its financial accounting, fraud investigation and dispute services. About 40 of the new jobs will be filled before Christmas by its auditing department.

Strong growth

The company, formerly Ernst & Young, said it had experienced strong growth in Ireland in the past three years, increasing its revenues by more than 20 per cent with "almost half" of the growth coming this year as the economic recovery gathers pace.

EY has increased its number of employees in Ireland by 18 per cent over the past two years to 1,260.

The company has started a “targeted” campaign to woo Irish emigrants back to work for it on home soil.

“We aim to attract local talent but we are also reaching out to those who have emigrated to Australia, America, South Africa and beyond to ‘come home’ and build a future with EY. We have already commenced a targeted recruitment campaign in these locations.”

As mergers and acquisitions activity increases, EY said it had invested heavily in this area in the past two years.

“We anticipate growth in transaction services as there is an ongoing demand for corporate recovery services, supported by the re-emergence of a more normal transactions market,” said managing partner at EY Ireland Mike McKerr.

The 160 graduate roles, such as trainee accountant jobs, will become available next year.

Richard Bruton, Minister for Jobs, welcomed EY's announcement. "Today's announcement of an additional 80 jobs is a further boost [to the economy], and the recruitment campaign targeting Irish people living abroad is a strong sign of the progress [Ireland] is making."