Major US insurer to create 200 jobs in Carlow

A major US insurance company will today announce the creation of up to 200 jobs through the establishment of a software service centre in Carlow town. John Collinsreports.

The new Irish arm of Unum, which specialises in providing employee benefits and group and individual disability income protection insurance, will provide technology services and quality assurance to its US parent.

The IDA Ireland-supported investment will be unveiled by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin. It is understood the jobs will be created in two tranches.

An initial 100 software developers and graduates will be recruited by the end of next year. A further 100 staff are likely to be hired at a later stage, depending on the initial project's success.

Unum plans to work closely with Carlow's Institute of Technology, which has a school of science and computing, to attract suitable graduates.

Unum's arrival is the third recent jobs boost for Carlow. Last September, as part of the Government's decentralisation programme, 100 staff from the National Employment Rights Authority and the Companies Registration Office moved to offices on O'Brien Road in the town. Ultimately, it is planned that 250 civil servants will be employed there. In September, pharmaceutical giant Merck announced a €200 million investment creating 170 jobs. It is the first tenant of the IDA's 28-hectare business and technology park on the edge of the town which has been empty since it launched in 2000.

Two of Carlow's main employers - the Greencore sugar factory and the Lapple automotive parts plant - closed in the last three years.

Despite this, Carlow's population grew 9 per cent between 2002 and 2006, largely fuelled by its attractiveness to Dublin commuters. Unum is keen to dip into this pool of workers by offering them skilled technical work closer to home. Recruitment for the new facility is expected to start immediately.

Unum, formerly UnumProvident, specialises in providing income protection schemes to large employers. It provides services for more than 40 per cent of Fortune 500 companies.

For the year to the end of December last, Unum had revenues of $10.52 billion, down from $10.54 billion in 2006. Despite the fall, net profits were up 65 per cent in 2007 to $679.3 million.