Crunch ‘creates flexible workforce’

Another article written in todays Irish independent backs up the flexibility of the workforce the flexinbility of the workforce that Greg Bentley Spoke about.

http://www.independent.ie/business/european/crunch-creates-flexible-workforce-1951044.html

Firms will emerge from the recession with a smaller core workforce but more staff on “flexi” arrangements, a leading business group has predicted.

The CBI said a more flexible workforce was one of a number of areas where “fresh approaches” will develop because of the economic downturn.

More financing options will be developed, firms will seek to improve “corporate citizenship” to help attract and keep customers and staff, and companies will re-examine their relationship with suppliers and other organisations such as universities, according to the CBI.

Director general Richard Lambert said: “We may be at the start of a new era for businesses, in which attitudes to finance and to corporate leadership are changed for a generation by the shock of the past two years.

“What we now need is a more balanced, less risky pathway to growth, one in which the short-term returns may be lower, but the long-term rewards for management success will be a lot more sustainable and secure.

“Firms looking to reduce risk and acknowledge their interdependence are seeking more collaborative ways of working through partnerships and joint ventures. Perhaps we will see a flourishing of supply chain finance – in which firms with the largest, most solid balance sheets help finance their smaller suppliers or customers.”

The report was published ahead of the CBI annual conference in London.

Recession = Current Market is good for Foreign Direct Investment

In previous posts I spoke about the current climate being extremely advantageous for Foreign Direct Investment to set up in Ireland.

Greg Bentley the CEO of Bentley Systems has reinforced this in an interview written in todays Sunday Business Post.

http://www.sbpost.ie/news/ireland/recession-attracts-major-us-employer-45813.html

The chief executive of a US firm which is creating 150 jobs in Dublin said his company would not be locating in Ireland if it were not for the recession.

Greg Bentley, of Bentley Systems, said that the company had originally discounted Ireland from its plans for an international shared ser vices centre, on account of high costs and the difficulty in hiring qualified people. ‘‘The recession creates capacity for us.

Otherwise we wouldn’t be here,” said Bentley, whose company had revenues of $500million last year.

He said that the scarcity of office space and talented workers in Ireland in recent years had become an ‘‘urban legend’’ outside Ireland.

The firm, which develops software for big infrastructure projects, had shortlisted a number of eastern European countries as potential locations for its new facility.

It was already at an advanced stage in planning when it decided to re-examine Ireland in the light of changing economic conditions, said Bentley.
‘‘While I sympathise with the rising unemployment rate, it is those unemployed who we will be hiring,” he said.

Bentley said that the unemployed people of a generation ago were ‘‘unemployable’’, but that today’s unemployed were the opposite.

‘‘We will be hiring young professionals, including those who may have been involved in the infrastructure-oriented professions, such as architects and engineers.

They have gone through their learning curve and are available to hit the ground running,” he said.

The company rated the positive Irish business environment and labour market as the primary factors in choosing the location, above any other cost considerations.

‘‘Only late in the game did we consider the tax advantages. I regard Ireland’s corporate tax rate as merely signifying its commitment to growth; it’s not the first or second consideration,” Bentley said.

Connect Consulting have assisted Bentley Systems in  setting up their Dublin Office Where they have already hired 35 people and expects to triple this number within six months, before bringing the total number hired to 150 within a year.