A Ray of Sunshine Through the Dark Clouds

One piece of good news to shine through all the doom and gloom is the news that the Northern Ireland contact centre business Gem will be creating 900 new jobs in Northern Ireland over the next 3 years.

Gem currently employs 1000 staff at its three sites, Lanyon Place and East Bridge Street in Belfast and Clarmont Industrial Business Centre in Londonderry.

The call centre aided by a £5.5 million contribution from Invest N. I. intend to fill the positions in the next three years, opening offices in several different locations.

While Gem are currently creating jobs the bigger picture tells a somewhat different picture.

For the first time in 12 years unemployment in the UK has risen to more than 2 million.
The downturn in the economy is already having a huge effect in Northern Ireland with the number of people claiming unemployment benefit rising 75% over the last 12 months. The past year has seen an increase of 18,000 people joining the ranks of the unemployed, bringing the total number of people in Northern Ireland without a job to 42,000. Last month alone this figure increased by 3000.

The Enterprise Minister for Northern Ireland Arlene Foster said, "The figures were disappointing but not unexpected. Most of the increases have occurred in the last 6 months and it is clear that employers are increasingly feeling the impact of the economic downturn. It is equally clear that there is no quick fix available to turn around the global economy"

One area not suffering from the downturn would have to be the Internet, which just keeps on growing and growing. More people are realising the huge potential to reach a worldwide audience with their product. Online shopping figures over the last 12 months have risen considerably indicating just how strong this market is. One statistic that shows the power of online shopping is the fact that on Christmas Day 2008 a massive £102 million was spent by 3.8 million online shoppers. Many large companies are choosing to spend their decreasing advertising budgets on the Internet and this is severely hitting revenues of the Television companies. This is also having a big impact on newspapers. Many newspapers are suffering as more and more businesses turn to the Internet to advertise. For years, pages of newspapers would have been full of classified advertisements for cars, jobs, properties and dating. This advertising revenue has all but disappeared, putting their very existence in doubt.

With recent news that 30,000 homes and businesses in the Belfast area are to be among the first to use BTs New Super fast Broadband, which has speeds 10 times faster than the average UK household currently experiences. Local politician Simon Hamilton, a Stormont Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee member was delighted with the news stating “Super fast Broadband can bring a competitive advantage to a company and help boost their Business during challenging economic times.” This promotes Belfast as an ideal base for international investment with Microsoft and Citigroup already setting up in the Titanic Quarter. These improved connections all serve to make the Internet more attractive to business and private users alike.