Report reveals details of DETI job creation

A new report has revealed that for every 100 new jobs created through financial assistance from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Industry (DETI), 57 unemployed people - directly or indirectly - gain a job.

Details of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report - entitled ‘Research into Secondary Impacts on Unemployment of Government Assistance to Northern Ireland Companies’ - were unveiled at a seminar in the Equality Commission headquarters in Belfast on Thursday January 24.

The PwC research was based on a survey of Northern Ireland companies in receipt of DETI assistance. The survey found that for every 100 new jobs created, 31 had gone directly to people who had previously been unemployed. A further 14 unemployed people took up jobs vacated by those moving from employment in other firms to newly created posts in DETI-assisted projects with a final 12 unemployed people finding jobs either in companies supporting DETI-assisted businesses, or through increased economic activity generated by the new DETI-backed investments.

Commenting on the results of the research, Greg McConnell, DETI Deputy Secretary, said: “PwC’s research represents a ground-breaking attempt to assess not only the extent to which DETI assistance leads directly to new job opportunities for the unemployed, but also the ripple effect of that assistance on the labour market.

“The outcome of this study gives us a valuable insight into the total impact of DETI activity on the labour market. This work is, of course, not an end result in itself but rather an important element in DETI’s evolving approach to Targeting Social Need.

“The information provided will be carefully considered in conjunction with major initiatives aimed at tackling unemployment, including our work with the West Belfast Task Forces and with the Task Force on Employability and Long-term Unemployment,” he added. (CL)