Concentrix is a leader in high-value global business services. They deliver end-to-end customer engagement services, technology innovations, analytics, process optimization and business improvements. The company offers expertise in a range of industries, including banking and financial services, healthcare and pharmaceutical, technology, retail, e-commerce and tourism. Concentrix operates in 25 countries, employing in excess of 70,000 staff speaking more than 40 languages.

Concentrix will be exhibiting at Jobs Expo Dublin on 7-8 May 2016 at Croke Park and at Jobs Expo Cork on June 23rd at the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs.

Luas drivers and Transdev management will meet on Monday 25 April as the deadline for proposed strike action approaches. It is hoped that the talks will avert the strikes planned for this week and next week.

Non-driver grades are also set to ballot on a new pay proposal offered to them last week by Transdev, the Luas operator.

Pay Proposal

The proposal offers pay increases of up to 13% by September 2019. Staff would also receive a once-off lead-in payment of €750 by the end of the year. €500 of this would be tax-free.

More controversially, the proposal also includes reduced pay rates for new staff. Luas drivers and Siptu have strongly criticised this suggestion. The proposal also includes new productivity measures. In addition, there is a potential future bonus of 6.5 percent. This is depending on an individual employee's performance, rather than the performance an entire grade.  Furthermore, long-serving personnel would receive an increment of 3 percent.

Transdev warned that the proposals will be taken off the table if Siptu do not recommended accepting them.

Transdev's proposals for non-drivers also states that they will withdraw warnings of pay deductions for striking employees. Letters sent to staff placing them on protective notice will remain in force until the dispute has been resolved.

Transdev has set a deadline of Monday for non-driver personnel to accept the new proposals. It is expected that drivers will be offered the same compensation package. However, this is less than the initial offer that Luas drivers overwhelmingly rejected last month.

Strike Days

Should talks not result in an agreement, Luas drivers have planned strikes on Thursday 28 April and Wednesday 4 May.

Pharmaceutical company Merck has announced the creation of 70 new jobs in Cork at two new facilities. The company expects the roles to be filled within the next 18 months. The jobs created will be in general manufacturing, R&D, engineering, chemistry, microbiology and quality assurance.

Merck's Cork operation is undergoing expansion. It will include a new, state-of-the-art speciality membrane facility as well as a chromatography media facility.

“To get another investment in that area is very important to us, because it builds on what we already have here, and the second investment, then, which is chromatography media facility — that’s a new area for Cork,” said Martin McAuliffe, MD of the Cork operation.

“That’s important, because it’s a new departure for us and it gets us into a new area of the business that we can grow over time,” said McAuliffe.

Merck to invest €55m 

The new facilities represent a €55m investment in Merck’s Cork operations. This will position Cork at the centre of the pharmaceutical giant’s global operations. Furthermore, it ensures its strategic importance to the company. One important development is that Merck's Cork-based R&D team is set to expand significantly. A small number of R&D staff are already employed in Cork. This is set to grow substantially in the coming years.

Merck already employs 700 people in Cork. The announcement is also good news for the construction sector. Around 400 construction workers will be employed to build the two new centres.

Transitions Optical, the world leader in photochromic lenses, is looking for people to join its Galway-based team across a number of disciplines including engineering, R&D, science and quality. We offer rewarding job opportunities working with exciting technology in a fast moving global organisation. We provide an attractive compensation and benefits package with opportunities for career growth and personal development. Our people work in a collaborative environment that values their ideas and diversity.

Transitions Optical will be exhibiting at Jobs Expo Dublin on 7-8 May 2016 at Croke Park.

Go4Less will be returning to Jobs Expo in Dublin this May. Go4Less is an Irish owned fully bonded and licensed travel agent who specialises in working holiday visas to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US.  They have a dedicated Work Visa Department at their Lower Abbey Street’s offices in Dublin. Go4Less also offer cheap flights, travel insurance, hotels, sun and ski holidays. Go4Less is a part of the Club Travel LTD group. Club Travel has been established for 43 years and is the single largest travel management company in Ireland.

Go4Less will be exhibiting at Jobs Expo Dublin on 7-8 May 2016 at Croke Park.

Abbott is a diverse, global healthcare company. They discover, develop, manufacture and market diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic pharmaceuticals. The company employs nearly 70,000 people worldwide, had global sales of approximately $22 billion in 2014, and serves people in more than 150 countries. In Ireland, they employ almost 3,000 people across 11 sites. The company has six manufacturing facilities located in Clonmel, Cootehill, Donegal, Longford and Sligo and a third party manufacturing management operation in Sligo. It has commercial and support operations in Dublin and shared services in Dublin and Westport. Abbott serves the Irish market with a diverse range of health care products including diagnostics, medical devices and nutritionals, and has been operating in Ireland since 1946.

Abbott Ireland  will be exhibiting at Jobs Expo Dublin on 7-8 May 2016 at Croke Park.